FIVE Minutes with Phil

So, I've got to start with "What is this command?" Let's go back a few verses… But you, man of God, flee from all this temptation, and pursue righteousness. In a nutshell, that's it - quit chasing that, and chase this. And I, Paul, your mentor and teacher, charge you, Timothy, my mentee and student, in the sight of the Creator and the King of Kings, keep this command without...

Final Charge to Timothy 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 1. I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame 2. until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time— 3. God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 1...

"I charge you" is the key to this chunk of Scripture, and for that, you need to go back to what I said in my comments on 1 Tim. 5:21, "I charge you to keep these instructions..." An important requirement for a "charge" is for there to be witnesses. In this case, Paul points to God, and to Christ Jesus, His Son. Let's break this down. In the sight of God, who gives...

Final Charge to Timothy Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Paul's message to persevere continues with this challenge to hold on and not let go! The picture I get in my mind is somebody swinging from a rope, while they're being lifted out of danger by a helicopter. I don't know what was going on in...

12 Fight the good fight of the faith. At age 19, Harry Read joined the military in his native England, and went to war to defeat Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime. His service included parachuting into Normandy on D-Day. A few years later, he joined a different army - the Salvation Army - as an officer and pastor. We met him when he was Chief Secretary (second in command) in Canada. He has lived qu...

Final Charge to Timothy 1. 11 But you, man of God, 2. flee from all this, 3. and pursue righteousness, 4. godliness, 5. faith, 6. love, 7. Endurance 8. and gentleness. God isn't actually a "Thou shalt not" God, which is how many see him. Following Him is not just a bunch of things you are not allowed to do because some cosmic kill-joy says so. He also points us toward correct behavio...

Final Charge to Timothy 1. 11 But you, man of God, 2. flee from all this, Run from "all this." What is all this? In a nutshell, isn't it the love of money, which is a root of all kinds of evil, that has caused some to wander from the faith and bring grief on themselves? For some reason, this made me think of the classic horror movies (which I don't watch) where there's a ghos...

With this week's "Timothy My Son," we're entering Paul's Final Charge to Timothy. He's already done some really powerful teaching, but it's nearly time to say good-bye. Paul begins this section by writing, "But you, man of God There are a lot of things I would like to be said at my memorial service. Faithful husband, good father, great grandpa! Sports fan. Lover...

9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Admiral Akbar sends a strong warning that the Rebel Alliance is heading into danger in the ori...

9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. I think of the first sentence of v.10 as being an umbrella statement. It draws together the ve...

7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. "If I can't take it with me, I'm not going!" But have you noticed you never see a U-haul behind a hearse? Years ago, there was a King Tut exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, featuring artifacts from the excavation of his tomb. You may know that he was buried with an extraordinary quantity of i...

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain… 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. There is a serious issue that I've seen too many times over the years when it comes to the idea of contentment, and that is that Christians ought to be satisfied with the status quo. I completely reject that idea. In the beginning, we read "God blessed them and said to them, “...

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain… 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Godliness with contentment is great gain. What about godliness without contentment? For that matter, what is contentment? These are the running shoes worn by basketball star Steph Curry. They are manufactured by Under Armour, bear his initials, and sell for about $200 US. And he has wr...

5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. The first election I remember was an Ontario provincial election in 1960. The reason I remember it is that we had a polling station in our house - the only time we ever did. And the winner of the election was Walter Pittman, who lived about a block fr...

These are the things you are to teach and insist on. 3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between people of cor...

How should we, in our western culture, be thinking about a passage on the relationship between slaves and their masters? One way is to take it at face value for Timothy and others who would have read these words in the first century. In fact, that's always the best way to understand and interpret Scripture: What did it mean to those to whom it was written? So Paul tells Timothy to tell those w...

24 The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. 25 In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever. Some day, every thought, every action, every private moment, every word, every did, every misdeed will be made public. What a scary thought. And thankfully, not true. In my...

23 Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. Now, this seems to come out of nowhere! Unless you put it in the context of someone in leadership, who has stomach troubles, ulcers, or other worry-induced ailments. In Timothy's case, Paul refers to his "frequent illnesses." Apparently, Paul was around him enough to know that for...

22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. Context is king. A text without a context is a pretext. So when Paul says "Do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure," he has to be writing about leaders, and the possibility that you, Timothy, could share in their sin if you do not hold them accountable. "But those...

22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. Whenever the Council of Elders meets at our church, we invite people from the congregation and the community to meet with us for prayer. Typically, we will introduce ourselves, ask a few questions as to why this person has come for prayer, ask permission to anoint their forehead with oil (a sy...

21 I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism. One of the things that bothers people the most is favouritism. We have a bias toward fairness. And we have a tendency to look out first for those who are closest to us and most like us. So we tend to overlook shortcomings in those we want t...

21 I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism. Many years ago, I remember reading Billy Graham's book, simply entitled, "Angels: Who They Are and How They Help - What the Bible Reveals." In it, he says, "If we had open spiritual eyes we would see not only a world fill...

I've got this picture in my mind, of a mother bending down in front of her little boy, taking both his hands in hers, looking deeply into his eyes, and saying, "Mommy and Daddy are going to be going out for a while, and I need you to promise that you will do whatever Auntie Mary tells you to do. She will be looking after you. And I promise you that if you do, you'll have fun with her....

19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20 But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. 21 I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism. Throughout the Bible, there is a...

17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18 For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.” Paul now grabs two quotes from the Bible. Much of what we read in Deuteronomy is amplification of the Ten Commandments: How should you be honou...