Meditation No. 1

Meditation Title:   Timothy, a true son

1 Tim 1:1,2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Over the years the letters to Timothy from Paul have meant much to me. There have been times when I have been seeking the Lord and found myself in Timothy where a sense of freshness has lifted my spirit. It may be the personal nature, one man writing to another man, I don't know. As so often Paul identifies himself as an apostle, called by God. It may be that his particular designations about himself flow out of the thoughts he has in the back of his mind about the recipients of his letters.

He comes, even to Timothy, mindful that he is an apostle, a called and sent one. He is clear about that; he knows who he is and perhaps in this he seeks to model to Timothy assurance – know who you are! And part of his ‘knowing' is knowing that he is what he is because God the Father, and Jesus the Son called him. No doubt he always has in the back of his mind that memory of that fateful journey to Damascus when the Lord stopped him in his tracks and he was blinded (Acts 9:3-9) and then surely Ananias would have shared with him what the Lord had said about him (Acts 9:15,16). Oh yes, Paul knew who he was! Later in the letter we will see that he seeks to remind Timothy of his calling so that he too may be assured by knowing who he was before the Lord.

But there is more in this initial greeting because he speaks of “Christ Jesus our hope”. Hope is always about the future and when there are question marks over the present, the future is always important. When you are a leader in God's church as Timothy was, there will always be question marks over the present and so we always need encouraging about the future. When he speaks of this hope he is reminding us that when we look to Christ, we remember all he went through and so know that even death is not the end as far as the Father is concerned. We may be threatened by life circumstances but even if we are, that is not the end. Jesus' death and resurrection tells us that death is not to be feared.

But there is yet another dimension to this hope because Jesus is now seated at his Father's right hand in heaven, ruling and overseeing the end time plans of the Father. Your life and my life, as Christians, are in his hands. He has plans for us (Eph 2:10) and therefore whatever we are experiencing at the moment is only part of the story; there is much more to come. God has much more for us in His plans that Jesus is administering. We will not stand still, change is the name of the game! He will be there tomorrow to bring change. Whatever the present circumstances, they are not fixed because His presence and power is here to move us and the circumstances on. That is the hope we have for tomorrow.

And yet, there is a third dimension to this hope. There is an end game. God is working towards a finale. Life is not haphazard so that the world ends in a spiral of self-destruction, as so often appears the case. Jesus, we said, is overseeing these end times (see Rev 5) and he is working his purposes out and he is working towards an end goal and you and I are part of it, whether it happens in our lifetime or not.

These are the confidences that come through subtly in Paul's writing here, but then he addresses Timothy as, “ my true son in the faith.” Interestingly he also calls Titus this (see Titus 1:4). He also refers to Timothy as his son in 1:18 and in 2 Tim 1:1, 2:1 as well as in 1 Cor 4:17. Now he doesn't explain this but as he is unmarried (1 Cor 7:8) we know that neither Timothy nor Titus could be physical family and that is confirmed by the description of being a son “in the faith”. Now interestingly in his letter to Philemon, Paul refers to “my son Onesimus who became my son while I was in chains . ” (Philem v.10) giving a clear indication that he had been instrumental in bringing him to Christ. It is fairly reasonable to suppose that the same thing had happened in respect of Timothy and Titus, and therefore he has a special affection for them.

Now when he says “my true son in the faith,” we don't know if the emphasis is on ‘my' in describing ‘son' or ‘true'. If it is the former he is emphasizing the reality of the bond between them because of having been instrumental in bringing him to the Lord. If it is the latter he is emphasizing the reality of Timothy's faith. Whatever the true meaning of the phrase, it does emphasize the depth of relationship between Paul and Timothy. When someone speaks in such positive terms there is feeling behind it that has both past history and future intents. Thus what we have in this letter is help, encouragement and guidance from the father figure to the younger man. It is said that an apostle is always a father figure to the church and so in this letter we see an excellent example of the apostolic ministry at work.

As with most of Paul's letter, he opens with a blessing, his desire in the Lord for Timothy: “Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” Grace is the divine enabling that helps us cope in daily life, to live as the children of God, mercy is what we rely upon that reminds us that it is all of God and none of us, and peace is the end product of living in the power and blessing and guidance of the Lord, knowing His power and presence with us. Timothy needed all this and so do we!

Meditation No. 2

Meditation Title: Stay and Correct

1 Tim 1:3,4    As I urged you when I went into Macedonia , stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work--which is by faith.

Opinions differ as to when this occurred but we find historical context added to this letter that reveals that Paul left Timothy in Ephesus while he went off into Macedonia . Now what this does suggest in what follows, is that Timothy held a clear leadership role while he was there. The instructions given to him by Paul in the letter suggest that he is not an elder as such (because Paul gives him instructions about how to appoint elders there), but is more likely a junior apostle, a young man (see 4:12) but with apostolic wisdom, supported and encouraged now by Paul's own.

It would appear from what follows both here and later in the letter, that Timothy's primary role is to maintain right doctrine and resist wrong teachings. It is intriguing to think that in this same Ephesus , years later the aged apostle John would finish his years, possibly both before and after his time in exile on Patmos . But for the time being it is an influential city and the focus of the struggle for the truth.

Paul's initial instruction to Timothy and therefore, we suggest, his primary concern, is in respect of the spiritual warfare that was going on in respect of the truth. The struggles of the early church in that first century were threefold: persecutions, competing ‘faiths', and heresies. It is the latter one that appears to be coming to the fore and causing problems here. Heresies were simply variants of the Christian faith that had been passed down by the apostles. As the years passed and the initial twelve died off (mostly from persecution, with only John dying of old age) so there arose in the church those who speculated about the truths passed down. We should not be surprised at this because the first main creed was not formulated laying down basics until some three hundred years after Christ. There were, as we shall see, already a number of credited ‘sayings' being taught in the church to pass on basic truths but the Gospels were in their infancy. John's had yet to be written and the three Synoptics were either just about to be written or had only recently been written and possibly had not yet circulated widely.

Thus Paul's injunction to Timothy to stay in Ephesus is so that he may “command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.” (v.3,4) Having been a Christian for well over forty years, I am no longer surprised at this because I have heard a surprising number of off-beat weird doctrines through the years. I will not give them publicity by mentioning them by name here, because most of these things disappear into obscurity but for the time they attract a remarkable number of gullible people.

This goes to show us the importance of being well taught in the church. I can look back through the years and give thanks to God for the many great men of God under whose ministry I have sat and learnt. The casual Christian is careless about ‘knowing the truth' but then people are surprised when they are led astray or move into doubt, disillusionment or similar. A number of times I have heard of people who have given up the Christian faith and gone off for some other world religion. People only do that when either a) they see a particularly bad representation of the local church or b) they simply have not been taught. When we are well taught, we come to see the wonder and uniqueness of the faith that is ours.

Of course in the early church they were still struggling to formulate the truths of the new faith and so were vulnerable to the enemy's attacks coming through people who questioned or challenged the truth that was being conveyed. Often it would be just a little variance from the truth but even a little variance often has big repercussions. ‘False doctrines' are anything that varies from the truth that we now have conveyed in the New Testament. If we want to know the theological implications of this truth, we are fortunate enough to live in an age when a number of extremely good and competent scholars have written books laying out doctrine. When you come across someone apparently bringing out something ‘new', beware!

When we come across people who are peddling new versions of the truth that we have doubts about, or who come up with myths (Watch out for Dan Brown myths!) or endless speculating about things in the Old Testament, ask whether, “these promote controversies rather than God's work--which is by faith ?” (Sorry I've turned Paul's words into a question.) There are people around who just love looking for things to disagree over. Yes, some parts of Scripture are open to a variety of outcomes, but if we use them to cause controversy and division we are not moving in the Spirit. There are those in the Christian fold who delight in denigrating those who disagree with their particular ‘take' on unclear passages of Scripture – of course they are clear to them, but the rest of us would wish to be more circumspect. Be careful how you speak of the rest of the body of Christ when it comes to debatable matters of doctrine.

Meditation No. 3

Meditation Title:  Stay and Correct (2)

1 Tim 1:5-7 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

Paul has just instructed Timothy to stay in Ephesus and command various men to stop teaching false doctrines. What is interesting is the apostolic authority implied within that word ‘command'. Tell them to stop is what Timothy is being told to do and Paul assumes that when Timothy does that, it will happen.

But this command to stop wrong teaching has a goal or outcome in mind. He was not just saying it to throw apostolic weight around. No, there was a solid reason behind it, as there is behind every instruction or rule or command or law we find in the Bible. Such things are said for good reasons. Paul spells out the reason: “ The goal of this command is love.” ( v.5a) Now that raises the question, whose love and love for whom etc. and so Paul continues, “which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (v.5b) i.e. when these three things are evident, God's love in and through us will be evident.

Before we examine these three things note what Paul says has happened: “Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk.” (v.6) In other words, these false teachers have lost these three characteristics and therefore as a result of that, love is absent from them, their teaching and from the body of Christ. Note in passing, therefore, that teaching has this capacity; it can either release or generate love or squash it. If we speak, preach or teach with a wrong heart we will impact the body of Christ negatively. This is the power or influence of the teacher who can change the very nature of the experience of the body of Christ, the church.

Let's quickly observe Paul's description of these men and what they have been doing. Earlier he had said that they taught false doctrines, focusing on myths and genealogies (presumably from the Old Testament) and all that did was promote controversies (arguments). Now he says they have wandered from the love of God and their talk is meaningless and “they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.” (v.7b) “They want to be teachers of the law,” (v.7a) he says but they evidently have no calling to the role of teacher and are thus just self-motivated with self inspired wisdom which is no wisdom.

We should therefore emphasize here that the role of a teacher in the body of Christ is a gifting and calling of God. We don't teach because we think it is a nice thing to do or because it brings meaning and purpose to our lives, but we teach because the Spirit of God has led us that way, filled us with a hunger for God's word and a yearning to bless the people of God with knowledge and understanding so that they may grow. Anything less than this is inadequate. These people that Paul is speaking about, do not have that calling and so simply produce ideas out of the back of their heads!

But earlier on Paul said that some of these people have wandered away from “a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith”, so let's examine those three things. They are, we will suggest from the outset, all things that new believers exhibit and the absence of them indicates that these men who have been brining false teaching are in fact not Christians, so no wonder their teaching is wrong!

When a person comes to Christ his or her heart is renewed. To the church at Rome Paul taught, “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified.” (Rom 10:10) Your heart was touched when you came to Christ. You believed what you heard, you were convicted about your state, you believed in Jesus and were so moved that you surrendered to God and were justified. When we confessed our sin we were cleansed and forgiven (1 Jn 1:9) and our heart was made pure. Thus Jesus could preach “Blessed are the pure in heart , for they will see God.” (Mt 5:8).

When we surrendered to God and believed in Christ, we confessed our sin because our conscience convicted us, as we just said, and were forgiven and cleansed. We surrendered our life completely to Him and from that moment on we were, so to speak, an open book to the Lord. Thus we have now a clear or “good conscience” as we stand before the Lord. We do all we can to remain pure and clean before Him and He has cleansed us by the blood of the Lamb that is Jesus.

Finally we have been left with a “sincere faith.” Believing in Jesus and coming to God for cleansing on the basis of what Christ has done on the Cross, is an act of faith. Indeed from now on everything we do in respect of the Lord is an act of faith. To be a Christian we have to be utterly sincere when we come in repentance before God and in everything we do in respect of Him, we must be utterly sincere. Thus we have a sincere faith.

Thus when we come to Christ we have to come with “a pure heart, and a good conscience and a sincere faith” and through all this we enter into a living relationship with the Lord who is love (1 Jn 4:8,16) and we enter into a life of love and so all we do is motivated by love, and love is the expression of the Spirit through us. Now all of this was missing in the lives and words of these men who had been bringing this false teaching and causing arguments in the church. Thus it was now Timothy's job to deal with these men and stop them.

Meditation No. 4

Meditation Title:    The Law is Good

1 Tim 1:8-11    We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers--and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

Paul, speaking about these false teachers, has just said, “They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.” (v.7) He hasn't told us much else about them apart from the fact that they “devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies ” which “promote controversies,” but presumably these are to do with the earlier books of the Old Testament in which we find ‘the Law'. It is interesting that Paul sent Titus almost exactly the same warning: “But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law , because these are unprofitable and useless.” (Titus 3:9)

Somehow these people were seeking to take the believers back into the Law. This was clearly a common problem because Paul devoted quite a big piece of Galatians to those who wanted to go back to Old Testament observation. So now Paul addresses this: “We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.” That is a good starting point: the Law is good but as far as New Testament believers are concerned, it is only good if you use the Law in the right way.

Now the verses that follow are so simple and straight forward that they do not require a great deal of comment. Essentially Paul says that the Law is there for wrong-doers, lawbreakers, those who are ungodly and sinful, unholy and irreligious who go on to do all sorts of wrong things that are clearly contrary to the New Testament teaching: “We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers--and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.” (v.8-11)

Sometimes Christians ask, “Is the Law still relevant for us New Testament believers?” and the answer to that has to be another question: “Well do you do wrong?” Christians should not be doing wrong. The apostle John wrote, “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands…Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 Jn 2:3-6) and later on he wrote, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” (1 Jn 3:6) Sin and the Christian should not go together and if we are living in the love of God and in the place where the Holy Spirit fills, guides, directs and teaches us, we will not have room in our lives to sin. It is that simple. Yes, we can still sin but we are to seek to do all we can not to sin and that comes by making God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit the centre of our focus in life. As Paul himself taught, “Shall we go on sinning … By no means! We died to sin,” (Rom 6:1,2) and thus, “ count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” (Rom 6:11,12)

So to return to our question again, “Do you do wrong?”, if you do wrong then yes the Law is there speaking to you, convicting you, for it speaks against doing wrong, but if we are so taken up in the love of Christ that sin does not have space in your life, then, no the Law does not speak to you and is not applicable to you. It is that simple! When we consider the basics of the Gospel, we see there is no room for wrongdoing and so no room for the Law bringing correction. The correction came when we laid down our lives to God and were born again and we turned away from the ‘old life' and because the temple of the Holy Spirit. Where He reigns, sin cannot reign and therefore rules telling us not to do wrong are superfluous.

Every now and then teachers turn to the Law as a source of fruitful teaching – I have done it in these meditations series – and it is useful to know about all that we find in the Old Testament. It is helpful to learn how God dealt with His people in those times, but to try and apply the Laws to our own lives, that He gave to that people then, is unwise, not because they are wrong laws (because they are not, they still show what God's design was for His people then) but simply because Christ has fulfilled them (Mt 5:17) in the sense that a) he has come and dealt with all sin by be coming the Lamb of God and b) his own Holy Spirit now indwells us and He is constantly working to lead us in right paths where there is no sin. It is good to know about the laws, but not focus on them in our lives today, for today we focus on Jesus and the guidance and direction of his Spirit as he rules at his Father's right hand. Amen!

Meditation No. 5

Meditation Title:   A Transformed Paul

1 Tim 1:12-14    I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

As Paul speaks about the false teachers that are influencing the church at Ephesus, that he wants Timothy to deal with, he can't help but consider himself, not so much by comparison perhaps, but simply in realising the wonder of what should and could take place in the lives of these men, as it has done in his own life.

He has said that they don't know what they talk about with the implication that they do not know the Lord. Thus he starts this reflection about himself with an oblique reference to his own calling to service: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.” Jesus appointed Paul – personally on the road to Damascus – and for that Paul is thankful. Previously he had just referred to “the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.” (v.11) That had been his calling and so we now see the link between being ‘entrusted' with the Gospel and him being considered ‘faithful'. The Gospel is precious and God had entrusted him with passing on the revelation he received, considering him faithful or trustworthy. Having called him and appointed him He gave him the strength to fulfil that role. When God calls, He also equips and enables.

But when he thinks about this he marvels at the wonder of what has taken place because he looks back to what he was and what God has now made him, and he marvels at it: “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man , I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.” (v.13) Twice in Acts we find him giving his testimony about how wrong he had been: “I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished,” (Acts 22:4,5) and, “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem . On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.” (Acts 26:9-11) Note in that second one that he “tried to force them to blaspheme,” meaning he tried to get the Christians to recant on their belief in Jesus. Blasphemy, he sees, is saying anything that denies the truth about God, Now he realises that Jesus is the Son of God and so denying that is blasphemy – and that is what he had done. In those two quotes he spells out how he had persecuted the Christians and in his violent nature had had Christians thrown in prison uttering murderous threats against them (Acts 9:1) and had even consented or agreed to Stephen's violent death by stoning (Acts 8:1).

Thus he concludes, “I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.” (v.13) It was purely by God's mercy that he is now here as Christ's ambassador and he can only conclude that God granted him that mercy because he had been zealous but ignorant and suffering from unbelief. His zeal for Judaism, we might suggest, blinded him to the truth and therefore he has in unbelief (‘unbelief' being the inability to believe the truth).

So, he continues, “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (v.13b) Despite being that unbelieving, violent, blaspheming, persecutor, God's goodness was poured out on him so that he experienced faith and love in Christ. As he submitted to Christ, so faith grew in him and he experienced the wonderful love of God. He didn't deserve any of this and so it came to him as a free gift from God. He didn't deserve it and he didn't earn it; he just had to receive it. That is what mercy and grace are all about. He has yet more to add to this, but we'll leave it until the next meditation.

Meditation No. 6

Meditation Title:   A Transformed Paul (2)

1 Tim 1:15-16    Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.

Paul uses this phrase, “Here is a trustworthy saying” three times in this letter, once in the second letter and once to Titus. They appear to be sayings of basic doctrine that the early church formulated, possibly to form a basic catechism for new believers. How they originated or who authorized them we don't know, presumably the apostles and for this they “deserve full acceptance.”

He has been speaking about the wonder of having been called and appointed to being an apostle, especially in the light of what he had been, and so now he applies one of these ‘sayings' to himself: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.” (v.15) We don't know if the whole of the bit that I have cited constitutes the saying or whether the latter part is what Paul says about himself. Whether it is his addition or part of the original saying, he is applying it to himself.

I am always blessed when I see this verse, yes, partly because of the simplicity of the doctrine, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” – that was entirely the summary of his work – but also because when Paul applies it to himself, he didn't say “I was the worst,” but “I am the worst.” Note he uses the present tense. There are always debates in Christian circles over ‘how much' we are saved, whether we are still sinners or are completely sin free. It is an important one and I believe at the end of the day it comes down to reality supported by various scriptures.

The apostle John is good to read on this subject: “I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense.” (1 Jn 2:1) There it is very simply put, we should not sin but we still have the capacity to sin and so we may on (hopefully) rare occasion get it wrong (sin). This accords with Paul's own teaching to the church at Rome : “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” (Rom 6:11,12) We are to consider that sin has no place in our lives and do what we can to avoid it – but it clearly must still be a possibility!

When we consider Paul's teaching in Romans 7, about the struggle with sin, it is all in the present tense. We will struggle with sin unless we allow the Holy Spirit to energize us and be the focus of our lives. The mature and wise Christian knows his or her potential, knows their capability outside of Christ. I know without doubt, that as much as I may hate it, under pressure on a bad day, I can be someone who you'd rather avoid. I don't want to be like it (like Paul!) but the nastiness is still there not very deep down. Oh yes, the reality is that on most days the grace of God is there flowing in me and most people who encounter me would say I am a really nice person to know – but I know the full truth!

It may also be that when Paul says, “of whom I am the worst” he has in mind his past that he has already spoken about – how he had been a violent persecutor – and once that always that – at least deep down and outside of Christ. I find that the more I go on in my Christian life, the more I look back and wonder at who I have been. I see a damaged, self-conscious, often fearful young man, not one who did lots of terrible things, but who was just wrapped up in his godless self-centredness – and I too marvel at the fact that God chose me, has used me to the extent He has, and has done so much in and through me. Absolutely amazing, incredible, wonderful! Part of the maturing process, I believe, is becoming more self-aware (not self-centred), aware of who we really are outside of Christ (still!) and yet who we are in Christ – works of God. Hallelujah!

That surmising is, I think, supported by what Paul now goes on to say: “But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” (v.16) In other words, I was known to be the person that I was and so when God called me and changed me I became an example for others. When others looked at him and saw the changes, that would give them hope that the same could happen to them.

We so often get bogged down in feelings of guilt over “I should be telling everyone about Jesus,” but actually our calling is more about displaying Jesus so that others are so blessed by your life that they ask you what it's all about. That's why the apostle Peter taught, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Pet 3:15) Those questions should flow from your life response to Jesus' words: “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5:16)

So often we find enthusiastic Christians with the word about Jesus always on their lips – whether the moment is opportune or not – but whose lives are the worst sort of testimony going: self-centred, self-concerned, artificially spiritually ‘high' but missing the needs in front of them that the Lord is calling them to meet. No, our lives are called to be examples to others, so that they will be stirred and convicted by the Spirit to ask, ‘What is it that makes you different? What must I do to be saved?' Oh for a Christian church that stands out in this way. May their criticism of us be, ‘they are too happy, too caring, too loving, too sensitive to others' needs!' Oh for a church like that!

Meditation No. 7

Meditation Title:   Glory to God

1 Tim 1:17     Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

A doxology is a short expression of praise to God that seeks to wrap up descriptions of Him and why He is worthy of praise, and that is what we now find in this verse. A doxology usually follows an explanation out of which praise naturally flows. Paul has instructed Timothy to deal with these unbelievers who have been bringing wrong teaching and then by way of comparison has set himself as an example of the wonderful things God does with us, choosing people who are entirely unworthy but choosing them nevertheless, and then changing them and equipping and sending them to change the world. As he sees all of this in his own context, Paul cannot help but praise God.

This work, this activity, this sovereign working, is the working of a ruler. It is why we speak of the kingdom of God . It is the rule of a king and a king is a sovereign ruler over a people, one who makes decrees in respect of them. Thus Paul acknowledges the Lord first of all as a ‘king' , but He is more than that He is ‘THE King' , the absolute ruler over all things. When Jesus returns as a conqueror we see, “On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Rev 19:16) He comes as the perfect representative of the Godhead to wrap up the first phase of human history. He comes as a conquering king, an absolute rules before whom every knee will bow (Phil 2:10).

But this King is not only The King, he is also the only ‘eternal' king. Eternal suggest indestructible, everlasting, unchanging. This above all else is what marks out God from anything else that we know in what we call ‘creation'. Everything else is changing and will eventually decay and come to an end. When all else is gone, God will still be. When all else is changing, God is unchanging. This is why Paul then describes Him as ‘immortal' for he does not change and will never die. He is imperishable meaning nothing can act on Him to change Him. He is the one sure fact of existence that can never change in any way. As Scripture says, He is prefect and neither requires it nor can be improved upon in any way.

But Paul also declares He is ‘invisible' . This we all know and in one sense this is the biggest problem of faith, that we cannot ever ‘see' God and so we have to trust that He is there. Elsewhere He is described as Spirit and Spirit is not material that can be felt or seen, but it IS real, as real as anything else we know in this material creation. Later on in this letter Paul breaks into a doxology again and repeats the things here: “God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.” (1 Tim 6:15,16) There, in respect of him being invisible, he adds that God lives in ‘unapproachable light' referring we assume to the glory of God which appears from time to time in Scripture, heralding His wonderful presence, a way of highlighting Him if you like, making Him stand out from all else.

Surely the glory of God simply expresses the reality of who and what He is – utterly unique and incredible. So amazing is He that no human in human form may see Him and live (Ex 33:20). His revelation, what we find in Scripture, only comes in vision form but not the reality. For each person who had a revelation of the heavenly courts (Isa 6, Ezek 1, Rev 4) we suggest, it was more like watching a television screen, and only in this way could they live. In the very presence of such a perfect and holy Being, all sin would be destroyed as would those who harbor it.

But Paul hasn't finished. To bang home the point, he further describes Him as “the only God”. God is unique. There is only one of Him. He may reveal Himself in three forms – Father, Son and Holy Spirit - but we worship just one God. It is this truth that is behind the first of the Ten Commandments: “You shall have no other gods besides me. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them.”( Ex 20:4,5) Why this command? Because it reflects the truth: there is only one God and to worship ‘others' means you deny the truth.

So what is Paul's response to this One he has described? “ be honor and glory for ever and ever.” What does that actually mean? It means, ‘let's give God the honour and glory that is due to Him, and let's keep on doing it for ever and ever.' Why? Because He is worthy of our worship and praise and if we don't give it, we reveal how blind we are!

Meditation No. 8

Meditation Title:   Prophetic Appointing

1 Tim 1:18,19   Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience.

Paul now returns to his original goal that he had stated earlier in the chapter: “command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer.” (v.3) That is the only instruction he has given Timothy so far in this letter which he now refers to when he says, “I give you this instruction.” But now he puts it in context and gives the reason why he can give this instruction to Timothy. In passing we should note that, by implication, Paul would not give such an instruction to just anybody. The person receiving such an instruction must obviously be someone of authority, and authority only comes from God. That authority from God had apparently come through prophecies made over Timothy at some earlier time, hence, “in keeping with the prophecies once made about you.”

How different this approach is to so much of ‘church administration' that we see today where people get appointed because it seems right to other people and the Lord is little consulted or, rather, listened to. Later in the letter Paul would again refer to such a time: “Command and teach these things….. set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity…. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.” (1 Tim 4:11-14) Whether it was at the same time or another occasion is not stated but the pattern is the same: someone spoke words of prophecy over Timothy that established him in the ministry that God was calling him to and gave him the authority to do it.

How often today do we have people in some groupings preaching, simply because another leader has asked them to, just to fill a gap? How much better when the Holy Spirit appoints. Note also that it was the God-appointed leaders (the elders) who had prayed over Timothy and brought the words to him. An even greater sense of authority brought to the occasion.

Briefly may we note in that latter occasion the reference to the laying on of hands. We should note this practice. We note it first when Jesus prayed for the sick: “When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one , he healed them.” (Lk 4:40) We also see it in respect of Paul: “His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.” (Acts 28:8) The significance there seems to be prayer, hands laid on, and presumably more prayer, for the healing to come.

That might not appear significant without other verses that follow. In practice we see it again in Acts: “Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money.” (Acts 8:17,18) The same thing was seen later in respect of Paul: “When Paul placed his hands on them , the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.” (Acts 19:6) The incident with Ananaias is also noteworthy: “Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul , he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord--Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here--has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again.” (Acts 9:17,18) It was as he placed his hands on Saul that his sight was restored.

To Timothy, Paul would later say, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” (2 Tim 1:6). The writer to the Hebrew considered knowledge of the practice to be among the basics that new believers would have been taught (see Heb 6:1,2).

Laying on of hands, simply refers to the practice of placing the hands on the head or shoulders of a person and praying and/or prophesying over them. It is not a casual thing, but something to be done under the leading of the Holy Spirit, a more formal act if you like, that signifies identification with the person being prayed over (see its uses in the Old Testament) and appears to be a time of literal imparting revelation or power in the Holy Spirit. There seems real significance in the person of authority actually touching the other person and there being a literal impartation from one to another. Those who have lived through the time of the so-called ‘Toronto Blessing' would have seen this happening again and again.

But the bigger issue is of the Lord speaking through prophecy to guide and direct His church. We see an example of both prophecy and laying on of hands in Acts at Antioch : “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off,” (Acts 13:2,3) which brought about Paul's first missionary journey. Note in that instance, the prophecy came first and then as part of the ‘formality' of sending them off, they laid hands on them and prayed over them.

To summarise, the practice was to lay hands on the head or shoulders of the individual and pray and/or prophesy over them to impart revelation and/or power. Emphasis is made of both the act of identifying with that person and of having the authority to act in this way as a channel of the Lord's blessing. Thus Timothy had been blessed and appointed to the task of apostle to teach and correct and act as a father to the church.

Meditation No. 9

Meditation Title:   Fight the Good Fight

1 Tim 1:18-20    Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme

We focused, in the previous meditation, on the fact of Timothy having been appointed by means of the prophetic word imparted to him with the laying on of hands. We now need to move on to see Paul's expectations of him that follow those link words, “so that…” His expectation is that Timothy may “fight the good fight.” We find him saying the same thing later in the letter: “ Fight the good fight of the faith,” (1 Tim 6:12) but as we see he defines the fight as a fight of faith, whereas in the present context, he simply speaks about “holding on to faith.” Without any doubt, the Christian life is a battle and we have an enemy who seeks to deceive us and lead us from the truth, immobilize us and stop us being and doing as the person God wants us to be.

In the latter quote where he speaks of “the faith” that involves holding on to all the truth about God, Jesus, the Gospel and who you are. When Paul taught on spiritual warfare in his letter to the church at Ephesus , he said, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms… Stand firm then.” (Eph 6:12,14). Note he speaks about a “struggle” against evil forces but he doesn't tell us to over come but to stand firm. I imagine our faith as holding a piece of ground which represents the truth. We have received that and are living in it and all we have to do is hold on to it and not let go of it. We don't have to overcome because Jesus already has. We just have to believe the truth and continue to live in it.

And when he speaks about “holding on to faith and a good conscience” he is reminding us of the fundamental truth that Jesus has died for us and that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1) so we don't have to feel continually guilty or a failure, for all of that has been dealt with by Jesus. If we do get it wrong, then the path back is simple and quick - we confess and receive his forgiveness (1 Jn 1:9). In this way our conscience can be at peace. It does also assume of course, that we are not willfully committing sin for that would, rightfully, disturb our conscience.

So we hold to the truth, live in it and shun sin, relying upon Jesus' death for those rare occasions when we do fail, and in so doing we resist the wiles of the enemy and stand firm. It is a good fight because it is a fight for good and it has already been won! Hallelujah!

But then, to emphasize the reality of what he has been saying, Paul cites some who have not stood, not held to the faith and fail to hold a good conscience. But, he indicates, it wasn't accidental but purposeful for they “rejected” these things. They succumbed to the enemy's lies and turned away from the truth and rejected the teaching that they had received from the apostles in the early church, and so had “shipwrecked their faith.” That is a powerful picture. Perhaps we might say that our conscience is like the rudder on the ship that is our life. They rejected what their consciences and the Holy Spirit would have been saying so that their lives crashed on the rocks that are the lies of the enemy and their life is now sinking – spiritually, morally and even perhaps physically, for that is what happens.

In his second letter Paul warns Timothy again about the first of the two named here: “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.” (2 Tim 2:16-18) His words here now are quite severe: “Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.” (1:20) This idea is similar to that found in his letter to the Corinthians where he instructed about a man in the congregation who had been committing sexual immorality, “hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.” (1 Cor 5:5)

This relies on a concept of which we in the modern church know little – that the body of Christ, the church, provides real spiritual protection for each member and so if an unrepentant member of the body is cast out, they are vulnerable to the enemy and will be brought down by him and hopefully brought to repentance. These two present believers were leading others astray by their wrong teaching and so Paul had put them out of the fellowship. In those days there were not lots of different ‘churches' in the town as there are today so those men could not just go off to the next congregation. They were completely cut off from the fellowship of believers and would soon feel the spiritual effects. As we noted, the intent was to bring repentance and subsequently restoration.

Meditation No. 10

Meditation Title:  Pray for People

1 Tim 2:1    I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone

Sometimes things are so obvious in Scripture that we completely miss them. Prayer is a mysterious subject. We don't think that if we have never thought about it but the more you think about prayer the more mysterious it becomes. Why pray when God knows every word before it comes on your lips? Why pray when God is sovereign and is going to bring about His ultimate will regardless of us? And yet we find instructions such as we have before us here that simply exhorts us to pray.

Paul has started out this letter by telling Timothy to get on and straighten out those crooked thinkers who have been bringing wrong teaching, but now it is as if he goes on with wider instructions that must apply to the whole church where Timothy is. Note that he starts off what we have as a new chapter with “I urge, then”. The word ‘then' seems to imply a link with what has gone before. It is as if he is saying, “Well these men are making a mess of things and will upset the church, but you get on and instruct the church and make sure it carries on in a proper way, and here are some things you should be ensuring that the church is doing.”

When he says, “first of all” it feels like he has a list of things he wants to put before Timothy and this subject of prayer needs to come first. He'll give a reason for that later. What is he requiring of the church? “That requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone.” An interesting list of four things to present to God!

Yes, that is the simplicity at the heart of this instruction: talk to God about all these things. Each of these things has to be seen in relation to God Himself. He starts with “requests”. We ask for something to change. That is what a request is, a request for change. We find a condition or situation or circumstance that we believe is contrary to the will of God but we are aware that we cannot change it – but God can! That is at the heart of most prayers – a recognition of something contrary to the will of God and a recognition that only God can change it, so we request that He will change it.

“Prayers”, I would suggest, imply more of an explanatory sharing with the Lord where we spell out our concerns. They are a step further on from simple requests. An example of a simple request is as follows: “a blind man, Bartimaeus… began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mk10:46,47) That was a simple request. If you read Acts 4:24 and the verses following you will see the prayer of the believers which talks out their position before eventually making a request.

“Intercession” is the pleading on behalf of others where you step into their shoes to ask on their behalf. This is yet an even deeper form of prayer whereby the person praying enters into the feelings of the other as they pray. It can involve pleading against the enemy. In intercession there is such a depth of prayer that the result can be the breaking of the power of the enemy where he seems to have been able to have a hold over a person or a situation or even a place. Daniel's prayer in Dan 9:4 onwards shows Daniel pleading for Israel and fully entering into the plight of his nation: “we have sinned… we have been wicked… we have turned away…. we have not listened…. we are covered in shame… we have rebelled… we have not obeyed.” Note he totally identifies with his people in his confession. That is intercession.

“Thanksgiving” is fairly obviously giving thanks for a person or situation. Now we might ask, why when this list seems to indicate a deepening in the nature of the praying as the list moves on, should thanksgiving come at the end. We may suggest that perhaps this is so because when times are difficult it takes some maturity to be able to bring thanks to God in the midst of a trial. James, for instance, wrote, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” (Jas 1:2,3) Can we give thanks in such times that God is working things out in me for the good? Remember also Paul taught, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28) Can we give thanks even in difficult circumstances that God is working in the background here to bring good for me?

Now we should note before we move on that Paul here says that we should bring all these sorts of prayer “for everyone”. That is a very general exhortation. Now there are Christians that I have come across who, it seems, have the feeling that they should make as big a list as possible of every person in their acquaintance to pray for. Is this what Paul means here? I suggest not! Elsewhere he wrote, “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests,” (Eph 6:18) or ‘pray as the Spirit leads you'. Thus, when we are before the Lord, we may ask Him to lead us in our praying and as He places people on our hearts, we ask on their behalf, again as we sense Him leading.

Again, as we said at the beginning, here is the mystery. Why does God want us involved in prayer on behalf of other people? In the verse that follows, which we will consider in the next meditation, we see he instructs us to pray for those in authority, and that for a specific reason, but why pray for people generally? Is it so that as we pray the Lord can convey to our listening hearts something of the anguish or need of others and thus move our hearts in compassion, perhaps giving us more understanding about them and their needs, perhaps showing us ways that we might become the answer to our own praying. It may be more complex than that; it may be more simple, but the call is to be a people who pray.

Meditation No. 11

Meditation Title:   Pray for leaders

1 Tim 2:1,2    I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

I must confess that I struggle with verse 2. I was all right with verse 1 where Paul encouraged us to pray for everyone, and we said it had to be as the Spirit led, but when he makes it very specific and then gives a reason, I can't help but think that the early church didn't do very well in this realm in view of the persecutions that swept many Christians prematurely into heaven. This is going to be an unusual meditation in that we are going to seek to think through some difficult issues about free will and the workings of God and about prayer in general. If you don't like thinking, this is not a meditation for you; nevertheless I hope there will be things of value here. But let's simply note first of all what he actually says.

He wants us to pray in these various degrees of prayer, “for kings and all those in authority.” Well today, of course, kings and queens have very little power in reality for, in much of the Western world at least, government comprises elected members of Parliament. At lower levels in this country with have County Councils, District Councils and Parish Councils (and variants of those). We have a lot of people “in authority” who make decisions that affect the rest of us. Now here I find another small problem: having been a news watcher for many years, I have watched consecutive governments making decisions that are often ungodly and, I believe, contrary to the will of God - but I am sure there are Christians praying as Paul suggests here and we might therefore suggest that their prayers are not being answered. When we see particular governments bringing out policies and then changing them again and again, we have to suggest a government lacking the authority that God speaks about in His word.

So here is my next dilemma: if I believe, as I do, that we are under the judgment of God as a 95% godless nation, the form of judgment seen in Romans 1, where God “gave them over to…”. This is the form of judgment where God steps back, lifts off His hand of restraint and lets the nation do as it will in a downward moral spiral until it gets so bad it comes to its senses and cries out for help and is ripe for revival. If I believe in this, then to pray for blessing on the ungodly government to alleviate the difficulties, seems to fly in the face of His ‘judgment will'. Perhaps one can say that, although that may be the overall intent of the Lord in bringing the nation to its senses, that does not stop Him showing grace and bringing blessings the nation from time to time, perhaps to catch people's hearts, or at least the hearts of some who are being changed by the general events.

So what am I left with? Well first, we have to go back to my starting comments about prayer, that so often prayer is a mystery. Ultimately, praying is an act of faith and obedience. When we are full of faith we are naturally obedient and obedience doesn't feature in our thinking, we just do it because we have an inner sense or an understanding that it is right. But there are occasions, which I think are supposed to be fairly rare, when we do something without understanding but just simply because we are told to, and so it is purely a matter of obedience. In such times understanding follows on later. So when ever I struggle with the matter of prayer, the first motivational point is that I do it because Scripture says so.

The second point to be made is that when we pray, hopefully we see clear and specific answers to prayer, especially when we have first of all caught the Spirit's guidance of how to pray and what to pray, but sometimes answers to prayer are difficult to discern, even though there are answers. Sometimes we just have to leave the matter in God's hands and trust that He is doing what He is doing and it will become clear one day.

Now third, remember why Paul says to pray like this: “that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” Paul wants the rule of godly (and ungodly?) governments to result in peace and quiet so that, as a result, you and I can live our lives being godly and holy. For the bulk of the time – at present at least – most of us Christians in the West at least, can do that. We might suppose that if people did not pray, we might not have the measure of peace and quiet that we do experience.

Fourth, although Paul speaks in these general terms he has not so far been specific, until he goes on, “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (v.3,4) There the clear inference is that when we pray for leaders our prayers ought to be that they turn to Christ, for that is God's desire for all people. Now here's a question: when you pray for a friend or family member to come to Christ, do you just pray once and then give up? The answer is surely, no, we will pray and pray again. When it comes to leaders – central government, local government or leaders in any other capacity, do we pray that they will find Christ, and do we ask how perhaps we may be part of the process that will bring them to him?

The focus thus becomes on crying to the Lord for the salvation of our leaders, and the enabling force is the Holy Spirit. In terms of understanding, we may not understand the why's and wherefore's of this praying and we may not see the full answers, but the call is nevertheless to pray and go on praying, and leave the outcome to the Lord.

Meditation No. 12

Meditation Title:   The All-Important Truth

1 Tim 2:5-7    For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle.

Paul has just said that it is good and pleasing to God for us to pray for leaders, and in our deliberations we concluded that the primary thing we were to pray for them was for their salvation, for nothing can be more important than that. In these three verses Paul confirms that. He gives us the basic Gospel message that all men and women need to hear and accept. Let's look at this first statement which has the feeling of one of those early ‘church sayings', even if he doesn't call it that.

“There is one God”. That is our starting point always. There is a God and we have to make a response to Him. There are not many ‘gods' as the Greeks or Romans had, all with very human failings, simply reflections of human thinking. There are not many ‘gods' as animism or other superstitious faiths had and have, as seen in Egypt at the time of Moses where they worshipped everything believing it had a power. No, there is but one God, the Creator of all things, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise, and totally loving and good.

But the trouble with mankind is that it knows it is at odds with this one God and therefore so often He feels a million miles away. This has always been man's biggest problem, how to reach this God, how to communicate with Him and how to appease Him for all our wrong doings. We may hear that He is a loving God but that doesn't ease our conscience for we know we sin and we know we are guilty and so we know we deserve punishment. And so the second vital part of the Gospel is that there is “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.” This is the good news, that one has come who has been revealed as the Son of God who has stepped into our shoes as a human being, experienced what we experience yet without sinning, and who then died on a Cross to take our punishment for all our sin. The problem of our guilt and shame has been dealt with by Jesus on the Cross. All that is left is for us to believe it and live in the light of it.

When Paul says, “the testimony given in its proper time,” he is saying what other Scriptures say, that Jesus came at just the right time in history and because of the apostolic calling there are reliable witnesses who have given testimony to these truths. One of the first requirements of the first twelve was that they had to be a witness to all that Jesus said and did, including his death and resurrection, as Peter had said, “one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” (Acts 1:21,22). The apostle John, when writing his first letter emphasised this same thing: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and hear.” (1 Jn 1:1-3) We can believe these things because the witnesses are reliable and plentiful. To the Corinthians Paul wrote, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.” (1 Cor 15:3-6). Well over five hundred of his followers had been witness to the truth of his resurrection.

That is why Paul now continues, “And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle.” His calling was first to declare the Gospel (a herald) and then to build the church (an apostle). Now put this in the context of what has gone before and we see the strength of what we have considered before: truth and integrity in leaders of a nation are indeed vital but even more so is that they come to know the Lord. If there is a primary failing of our nation today, it is that most of the people in positions of power have no living relationship with God through Jesus Christ. There are some believers, and in some there is a form of religion but without the reality of it, and in many there is no belief at all. This is true of the Royal family and of government and will certainly be true of local government and all other forms of leadership. No wonder our country (the UK ) is in the moral and economic and social state that it is in. It is because it is 95% godless. One of our priorities is to pray for our leaders, not merely that they have wisdom to govern (because that can be self-centred praying, praying it for our own benefit) but that they will come to faith and thus govern with the wisdom of God. May it be so!

Meditation No. 13

Meditation Title:   Orderly Lives

1 Tim 2:8-10    I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

There are times in his letters when Paul distinguishes between his own wants or beliefs and those from God. In these verses we have two occasions where Paul uses the words, “I want”, which suggests more what his preference or desire is for the local church, not something he is insisting on as a divine mandate. Yes, the church can operate without these things and they are not key issues, but they are, nevertheless, issues of good order. In these verses that follow there are distinct gender differences and some suggest some of these things are purely to do with Paul's culture. Where there is no scriptural argument from Paul we may concur with that, but on occasions in his writings where he uses Scripture to justify his argument, we cannot assume that.

So he starts with the behaviour of Christian men in the church context: “I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.” (v.8) Using the word “everywhere” simply implies this is a general expectation in all churches. Lifting up holy hands is simply a physical expression in prayer, reaching up to God if you like. The key part of the sentence (and perhaps the comma shouldn't be there) is in the words, “without anger or disputing”. How can you pray in the same room as another man when you are angry with him or you have a dispute with him? Jesus said something similar in respect of worship: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” (Mt 5:23,24). Arguments and disputes do arrive in a fallen world, even between Christians, but the implication of both Jesus' and Paul's teaching is sort it out quickly with your brother because there is no place for such things in the body of Christ when you come to God.

Then he turns to the ladies of the congregation: “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes.” (v.9a) Now Paul doesn't spell out his reasons for saying this but I suspect he had in the back of his mind similar thoughts to that which James had: “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (Jas 2:1-4) Paul's own teaching to the Galatians was, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28) and similarly to the Colossians, “Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” ( Col 3:11) The message is that we are all one in Christ but of course in the world we are not; some are wealthier than others. This is why I like informal churches. In a warm climate I recently went into a church where virtually all the men were in shorts and some form of tee shirt. There was no sign of ‘class' whatsoever, and that is what is behind Paul's words to the ladies of his congregations.

But he doesn't leave them with a negative note. He says, don't dress like this, “but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” (v.9b) Now ladies could feel negative about this but as I have observed church life over for forty years or so, I have to say that generally speaking it is the ladies of the congregation that usually are the ones who are expressing good. I don't know why that is, but I do believe it is so. The ladies of a congregation, I believe, have a greater capacity for being salt and light in the congregation and also the opposite! Men, for whatever reason, tend to be rather more bland in adding colour to the congregation. There are exceptions but so often the outward going, impacting people of the congregation are women. In a day when feminists (with some reason!) still sometimes strive for equality, we have to say that in some things we are never going to be ‘equal'. In some things men are better and in others women are better. Whether you put it down to culture or to God's design, I leave up to you. I tend to believe it is God's design expressed through culture. Where worldly culture tries to change we have to check the realities and how changes affect both the church and society as a whole. Many of today's problems in society are because we have not done this.

Prayer and arguments don't go together. Pride and showing off don't go with worship. Before God we are all equal and yet different, and as He works in us by His Spirit, those differences can bring blessing. In the meantime these things we have been considering that Paul has put before us, should not be sowing discord or division within the church.

Meditation No. 14

Meditation Title:  Gender Issues

1 Tim 2:11-15    A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing--if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety

Perhaps we paved the way for this meditation in the previous one. There I suggested an approach for dealing with Paul's writings where they cover gender issues, because often people say the things Paul speaks about to do with gender were purely cultural. Well some clearly were but when Paul uses Scripture to justify his position over this issue, we have to think again. No, so contentious has this subject become in modern church culture – at least in some quarters – that before we get to look at the detail of what Paul says and why he says it, we need to have a much wider perspective that looks at the background in the Old Testament and the background in society. For that reason we will possibly take more than just one or to meditations to cover this part of Paul's letter.

There are four potential problems, I believe, to be faced when considering this issue. Problem number 1 is that we may be a man. If we are male the odds are that we will not be able to feel or understand what our partner feels as the underdog historically. The second problem may be that we are a woman and if we are female the odds are that we will feel that society and history have made us second class people and in some cases that is true but wrong. The third potential problem is that we just succumb to the spirit of the age which is godless and go along with what it says without giving any real thought to the issues. The fourth potential problem, I believe, is that we make things too black or white. It is cultural or it is scriptural. I suggest there is another path whereby it is part cultural but also scriptural.

In such a minefield as this we need to cover these general issues before we dare face the Scripture. What are the truths of the concepts of male and female? The secular world rejects the Bible and says we are the results of evolution but actually if I have a problem with evolution then sex is the one big issue that makes me reject it. Stop and think about sexual reproduction and no way can you envisage (even using the excuse of billions of years) male and female and the human reproduction system evolving. So come back to the Bible and don't be hasty in rejecting Genesis. What does it say?

The very first reference to this subject in Genesis is, “Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” ( Gen 1:26) ‘Man' there is the equivalent to ‘mankind'. Then we find, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27), “he created him” and then “male and female he created them” perhaps suggesting what is coming shortly, that God made man first, then woman. However, what is more likely is that as we noted above, ‘man' in this instance would be better rendered ‘mankind' which would then make it read more easily, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created mankind; male and female he created them.” If that is so then male and female fit into ‘mankind' and both are made in the image of God, which is so, and there is in the opening statements, no first or second status. When we come to the detail in the next chapter we find God making man but noting that man on his own was inadequate, and so creates Eve as well.

Now the picture language (is it literal?) that follows simply suggests to us that Eve, coming from Adam, has a number of similarities to him. Now none of this was a surprise to God and Eve wasn't second best but we are shown things in this order for a purpose. So what general principles follow from what we read in chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis. First, Adam without Eve was incomplete. Second, because of how they come about there are similarities but also differences.

Recent cultural history went through a stage of declaring that there were no differences between male and female apart from the obvious physical ones. Fortunately we have moved on from there and writers of all persuasions acknowledge a raft of differences. The well known “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus” typifies some of that writing. We realise that these differences are what makes being in a marriage partnership so good and ‘interesting'!

We might also note in passing that there is a tidal wave of change taking place in godless western culture in the removal of sexual boundaries which challenges God's order of one male for one female and simply says any sex with anyone at anytime with no strings attached. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for us to come to our senses and realise the folly of that.

But we haven't finished with Genesis yet because Paul makes two distinct points about men and women and draws his conclusions from those early chapters, 2 and 3, of Genesis. We need to take in those two points in detail and so we will deal with them in the next meditation.

Meditation No. 15

Meditation Title:   Gender Issues (2)

1 Tim 2:11-15    A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing--if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety

In the previous meditations I first suggested an approach for dealing with Paul's writings where they cover gender issues, of having a much wider perspective that looks at the background in the Old Testament and the background in society. I also suggested four potential problems, I believe, to be faced when considering this issue, which are basically about pre-suppositional bias. We then went on to observe the earliest revelation in chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis, which we will need to look at again in a moment. We noted that God made man Adam first but that he was inadequate on his own and needed Eve to complement him. We finally noted that modern culture had moved on from “men and women are the same” to “we recognise that men and women are different”, hence the book of some years ago, “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus”.

So now we need to move on. Paul refers to both chapters 2 and 3 in his arguing and makes two distinct points, the first of which is: “Adam was formed first, then Eve.” (we will consider the second in the next meditation). There is an order revealed here and we must remember that God neither makes mistakes nor works haphazardly. If God shows it like this He must be conveying a message. God could have simply said, “I made them both at the same time,” but for some reason we find this story account whereby man is clearly put first (inadequate as he is on his own) but then comes woman. Surely this must be God conveying a truth. From the little we have seen it is a case of man leads but is unable to do it on his own and needs help – but that doesn't change the order – the responsibility is on him to lead and be accountable for it.

But we must note that actually the quote about Adam being formed first, starts with a ‘For' indicating that Paul puts this forward as the reason for the teaching he brings before it and which we have purposely put aside until now: “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.” It is Paul's assertion that what we have considered in Genesis 2 does indeed indicate that God's design was for man to lead and woman to follow. Now this is patently against modern culture but we have to ask, who will we believe – modern culture or God? The fact that we may not like what we find in Paul's writings on this subject, does not take away from the fact that we are dealing with the canon of Scripture which the early church Fathers and many since have considered to be the inspired word of God – all of it. If we have difficulties with it we need to ask for understanding as to why these words are here.

This is one of those times where it is not simply culture for Paul is using Scripture to justify his viewpoint. We may say that it was the culture of Paul's day that men were dominant but I think that is an over simplification. Clearly men were the people in authority and clearly women were expected to be the creators of families. One has to note that the stereotypical picture of a Jewish mother is not of a subservient ‘little woman'. Indeed if we read Proverbs 31:10-31 the ‘noble wife' is in no way a little woman pushed into obscurity by being a mother; far from it! Yet undoubtedly throughout the Old Testament men were seen as the leaders and, again, undoubtedly that would have been linked to the fact of women's child-bearing role and men's role as hunter-gatherers. The fact that modern, godless culture has largely disregarded those models does not mean that we should similarly mindlessly abandon them. Statistics flow today, often indicating the poverty of modern couple-relationships.

This Old Testament pattern of men being leaders did not mean that women had no influence. Jezebel was a bad example of influence (see 1 Kings 21:1-16) but Abigail was a good influence (see 1 Sam 25:14-37). Deborah the prophetess (Jud 4) is an example of a woman used by God but who sought to push the man forward in leadership. Clearly in the New Testament the Joel prophecy being fulfilled included woman as well (Acts 2:17) and we find the prophetess Anna welcoming the baby Jesus (Lk 2:36) and Philip the evangelist has four daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:9). Of course one thing that is often forgotten is that a group of women traveled with and looked after Jesus and the disciples much of the time in their travels (see Mk 15:40,41 & Lk 8:1-3)

No, the New Testament picture is not of insignificant women, of silent women and we should not think it was purely unmarried Paul who thought this way. The married apostle Peter wrote, “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives.” (1 Pet 3:1) A couple of verses later he declares, “this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master.” (1 Pet 3:5,6)

If we may venture to enter contentious waters, one might suggest that one of the reasons God has ordained it this way (apart from giving the woman freedom from such responsibilities while having and raising children) may be because generally a woman is more emotionally driven than a man. Now please don't hear that as a negative because it is very positive, and it may well be linked a) to the monthly cycle and b) to the protective nature of a woman as a child bearer. In the times when I have observed women in church leadership roles, when there have been contentious matters I have to say that I have seen men ruled by their head and women ruled by their heart. At the end of the day, and I have seen this a number of times, it does need the unemotionally directed heart and mind of a man to make the decisions needing to be made.

This is not to say that women cannot express their opinions in church life and contribute fully to church life, often I have noted with more wisdom than some men, and certainly from a more caring perspective, but ultimately when God's divine order is maintained, blessing does flow. Modern male-female gender discussion also recognize that women generally have the greater capabilities when it comes to communication. To say women talk more is not a derogatory statement but a scientifically observed fact. If that capability is linked with swinging emotions it can create loud discord and this, I would suggest, is what Paul is speaking against when he speaks as he does and says, “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.” It is for the protection of both her and the congregation, but there are many positive aspects of life of the church where it is vital that women contribute. We consider those in the next meditation.

Meditation No. 16

Meditation Title:   Gender Issues (3)

1 Tim 2:11-15    A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing--if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety

We will not reiterate all we have considered in the previous two meditations apart from noting that we have seen that before God men and women are equal but different – as He has made them. The differences mean that He has also assigned different roles to them historically, even though modern, godless culture seeks to ignore them. We dealt with the first of two points that Paul makes in these verses, basing his argument on Genesis 2. We saw that he argued for men to be leaders and women to overcome what may be their ‘natural' tendencies to overthrow the divine order, and be followers. We emphasized again and again that this does not make women lesser or second-rate beings, but that they have strong and distinctive roles to play in modern church life. The buck, however, has to stop with men whom God holds accountable.

So we have dealt with the question of Adam being formed first, but then Paul goes on to say something that will require sincere reflection. We need to see a) what he said, b) what happened back in Genesis and then c) why and how Paul can apply it in the way he does. I should warn you that before we finish here, your prejudices against Paul are likely to be severely challenged. Are you open to see him in a new light?

First let's observe afresh what he says: “And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing--if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” (v.13-15) If you look in your Bible you will see two notes in verse 15 so that it way read, “But she will be restored through childbearing.” I have underlined the two word alternatives which I believe are better and add clarity.

Second, what happened in Genesis 3? Eve was approached by the serpent (Satan) who put various suggestions to her, first questioning what God had said, and then challenging the thought that she would die. He also added that if she did eat she would become like Go and know good and evil. The text then shows the awfulness of the decision she made to eat: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good a) for food and b) pleasing to the eye, and also c) desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Gen 3:6) We have added in the a,b,c to emphasize the three things. The apostle John describes ‘the world' by what it thinks and does: “a) the cravings of sinful man, b) the lust of his eyes and c) the boasting of what he has and does.” (1 Jn 2:16) Again we have added the three dividers to show the similarity with the way Eve gave way to Satan. Look at the three in each case and see how similar they are.

What we also might note here is that all of these things go on feelings. Did Satan realise that if he had approached man, Adam would have responded with intellect and simply applied the rules – God said don't so we won't? Did he realise that Eve was designed to work better on emotions than Adam and so confused her feelings and thus brought her downfall? We aren't given answers to these things but in the light of what we know of male-female differences they are distinct possibilities.

So now, third, how and why does Paul apply this to women today? He doesn't spell it out; he simply declares, “And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.” The inference is there was something about Eve, as a woman, that made her more vulnerable. The explanation we have given above, I believe, is reasonable and doesn't leave women in a bad light. It just says that the grounds on which they work best, makes them vulnerable to enemy attacks.

I'm going to make a suggestion that is going to appear outrageous to some, but think about it and I think it will come through as a reasonable suggestion. I am going to suggest that Paul was actually being pastorally caring when he says, “But women (she) will be saved (restored) through childbearing.” I'm going to suggest that what he is saying here is, “If Eve, and women subsequently, felt bad about the fact that it was a woman who opened the door to allow Sin into the world, they can take comfort in the truth that that particular characteristic that made them vulnerable, also makes them so good at child-bearing, and we, the other half, should be glad that they have gone through the pain, discomfort, anguish, worry, etc. etc. that goes with child-bearing and then child-rearing.”

Just in case we think he is going over board in speaking like this (and I am aware that for many it will take some real thought and prayer to see this and overcome our previous prejudices), he just wanted to make it clear that salvation doesn't come through being a mother, only faith in God does, hence, “if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” So, although their role in procreation and continuing the human race, should overcome any negatives we may feel in respect of Eve's role in the Fall (for people are always looking for someone to blame, and men are so often looking for excuses to blame women in the ‘war of the sexes') full salvation only comes by entering into the goodness that comes through faith in Christ. This will include a life of love and a life of holiness. That is true of both men and women!