 Okay, welcome back after the break. Just before we went for our break, we were looking and studying First Timothy chapter 3, verse 16, where Paul is basically laying down or expressing the foundation of the Christian truth of the church, and he's basically quoting an early hymn, which expresses the foundation of Christian truth. And we were studying that in verse 16. Anyone has any questions? Any questions? Okay, regarding women's part in the church. Yeah, anyway, move on from that. But okay, Divya, I'll take your question. No worries. Go ahead. Yeah, it's nothing regarding the theology part of it, but I just wanted to know it in a practical sense, like, especially if for a season God puts us in a church where you know this doctrine is a little different in the church regarding women's role. So what is the best way, you know, to use your gifts at the same time, not go against, you know, the doctrines of the church. So it's a kind of like maybe God has put that person in the in the church for a reason and for a season. But, you know, you could be restricted in using your gifts because of that. Yeah, but yeah, just wanted from your experience or anything like from in a practical sense. Yeah, I just wanted to know, like, yeah, thank you. So you're saying, Divya, that if, you know, you're in a church where women are not allowed to preach and teach and minister, and then you have your gifts and calling, how do you use it? You know, knowing that God has put you there and you can't move out of the church for some valid reasons, how can you use your giftings and your calling, right? That's what you're saying. Exactly, yes. Okay. Good question. Thank you. So, you know, basically, if you're not allowed to do it in church, but the church can provide opportunities, like for women to, even though not in the main adult congregation, but no women can, they have prayer groups, I'm sure. So they can pray for the life and the ministry of the church. They can also pray for those who are sick, you know, and people are healed, people are restored. So they know that, you know, this women's prayer group is, it's a powerful, you know, place where, you know, just send your requests, you know, prayers are answered. People are restored. Marriages are restored because there are people, women who are praying. Women can also impart to children. So even, you know, teaching is not allowed in the adult church, but of course they're not restricted. There's only women who basically, you know, teach thank God nowadays there are men, and they have been one or two men, but if you see mostly there are women who teach children. So it's a wonderful place to impart a truth and build up these children in the faith. Also, you can have your own prayer groups at home. You can have your own women's Bible study groups, you know, where women are meeting, studying the Word. You have an opportunity to preach and teach, to fulfill your calling. Also, you know, make yourself available if somebody is sick in church, the pastor cannot go, you know, you can go and pray for that person. The person is healed, the person is restored, experiencing, you know, the anointing and the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through you. You're just manifesting the gifts, also doing a lot of evangelism work, you know, ministering to the poor, the needy, the orphans, the old age, so you can do so many things apart from just preaching. You know, preaching is just one thing. You stand up on stage, you preach, you know, whether people get you or not, they're sleeping or they are tuned off, but this one-on-one interaction, having an own small Bible study group, going around teaching, preaching, evangelism. You know, utilizing so much of greater impact than just teaching and preaching in church. Yeah, totally understand. Yes, yes, that's true. That's true, pastor. Yeah. Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah. Thank you, Divya. Okay, so we'll move on if there are no questions. So we looked at the truths that Paul is presenting. Firstly, that God is manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit. He was seen by angels, so we know there are various instances in the Bible. You know, Mark chapter 1 was 13. Luke chapter 22 was 41 to 43. You know, this is when Jesus was tempted and he was in the wilderness. Angels came and ministered to him. Also, in the Garden of Gethsemane, in the Garden of Gethsemane, sorry, that is Luke chapter 22 was 41 to 43, where, you know, Jesus sneered down and prayed and said, Father, take this cup for me, but not my will. Let your will be done. Then the angel came and angel came from heaven and strengthened him. We also see at his resurrection, his tomb, there was an angel that answered and spoke to the women. So we see that he was seen by angels and also, you know, was preached among the Gentiles. That is what Paul is saying. I'm doing basically, you know, I'm doing my best to fulfill my calling, to preach Jesus, make him known among the Gentiles, bringing the Gentile world to believe in him. And then finally he says, received up to glory. So these were the apostles were witnesses to and 500 more who were witnesses to him being taken up to glory who ascended. So it reminds us of Jesus' ascension. Luke chapter 24 was 51, where he parted from them, he was carried up into heaven. In Hebrews chapter one, verse three, where it talks about his finished work on our behalf, where it says in Hebrews chapter one, verse three, who being in the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. So he finished his work on our behalf and now he's present interceding on behalf of us. One John chapter two verse one talks about it says my little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ, the righteous. So basically Paul is laying down the basic core truths of the church, which is supposed to be the pillar, the foundation of the church. And he's saying, you know, appalled this, speak this, preach this, and do this. And even as you, you know, accept this truth and know this truth, you know, live this truth, speak it, live it, walk it, let it be made known in your lifestyle. So that's how he ends this part of his letter in First Timothy chapter three. Any questions? No questions. If there are no questions, we'll move on to First Timothy chapter four. So can somebody quickly read for us? First Timothy chapter four, please. Anyone who's not read before can read First Timothy chapter four. Can I read? Yeah, thank you, Sree Kumar. From which word to which? The whole chapter, please. Okay. Now the spirit speaketh expressly that in later times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirit and doctrines of devil. Speaking lies in a hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meets which God had created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good and nothing be refused if it be received with thanksgiving. For if it is sanctified by the word of God and the prayer. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shall be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in words of faith and of good doctrine where unto thou attain. But refuse profane old wives' fables and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profited little, but godliness is profitable unto all things having promise of life that now is and of that which is to come. This is faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore, we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God who is savior of all men, especially of those that believe. These things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers inward in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy with the laying of the hands of the persevering. Meditate upon these things, give thyself holy by them that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine, continue in them for in doing this thou shall both save thyself and them that hear thee. Thank you, Master. Master, you are muted. Amen. Thank you, Sri Kumar. In verses one to five, we see that Paul starts this part of his letter by saying, now the spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith. So he's mentioning by saying that now the spirit expressly says, so Paul is especially saying that this is revelation from the Holy Spirit, which he's receiving. Of course, all that he's writing is inspired by the Holy Spirit is what he has received as a revelation, but he's just mentioning this maybe because it's either as a spontaneous word that he's received just as he is writing this. Or maybe he's quoting this as a previous prophecy that he has received, a revelation that he has received. But he's saying that take heed of what I'm saying now because this is something that the Holy Spirit has expressed to me, has revealed to me. It's not that what I'm talking about my own knowledge of what I have seen or what I've heard or received news from, various people who come and meet me from the Church of Ephesus, but this is something that the Holy Spirit has expressed to me or revealed to me. And he's saying that in the later days, later times, there will be people who will depart from the faith. And then he's talking about here, some will depart, which is talking about the danger of apostasy, which means apostasy basically means falling away from the truth. Those who fall away from the truth fall away from the faith. So he says some will depart, which means the danger of apostasy. Then he's talking about deceiving spirits, which is the danger of deception, where these Satan's demons will put deceiving thoughts, lying thoughts into the hearts and minds of people, which will deviate them from the truth, take them away from the truth totally. And also doctrine of demons, danger of false teaching. All of these false teachers who are fueled, inspired, who are led by the doctrine of these demons who put all of these thoughts into their heads. So he's saying all of this is going to happen in the time to come. And then he says that there will be some who depart from the faith. It does not mean that here, faith does not mean losing the ability to believe, but it's here talking about abandoning essential teachings of Christianity. So it's basically those who abandon the essential teachings of Christianity. And he says these men and women who are empowered or fueled by these deceiving spirits or these demonic spirits, they're going to promote such teachings that speak lies in hypocrisy and have their own conscience sneered. So basically these people who are empowered by these deceiving spirits and demonic powers, they are speaking lies in hypocrisy, which means it is describing those who depart from the faith. It also certainly points out to ones who are willingly embracing falsehood to justify their own sinful actions, to justify their own pride. But it also refers to those who claim that they are teaching the Word of God while using it to just support their own ideas and agenda. So they want to follow certain rituals, certain things, certain ways of life, certain lifestyles, and as a cover up for their own sins, which they are indulging in, to justify it, they would bring about certain legalistic rules and laws and certain lies. And also those who claim to teach the Word and indulging in those sins, they would teach those lies to support their own ideas or their own agendas. And he says that these people who also promote such teachings, why do they do it? He says is because their conscience is seared, which means their conscience is basically at one point of time, convicts them of their sin, convicts them of the lies they are believing in, the wrong lifestyles, the wrong choices that they're making, or the false heretical teachings that they're teaching. But because they are not heeding to their conscience, they're not listening to their conscience and they have departed far away from the truth and so tangled and got into this whole web of lies and deception, which is fueled and empowered by demonic spirits, their conscience is so dead to the truth now. It's as if their nerve endings of their conscience is burnt over and they don't have any feelings in their nerves, in their conscience, their conscience is totally dead. So the whole concept that Paul had in mind when he was writing this, their own conscience is seared is he's talking about slaves, when slaves commit some grievous wrong or when they run away or when they do something that is really against the law, they have not done what is right. They have this hot iron which is taken and they're put on their forehead. It's like a mark for the rest of their lives to tell people that, hey, this is a slave who's broken the law and he's punished for it. So need to keep an eye on this guy or even for animals, when they want to put a mark on that animal that belongs to such and such a person or they put this hot iron. So that whole part of their body, their nerve endings is dead. So even if you do anything in that part, they would not sense or feel anything because their nerve endings are dead. They can't sense or feel anything. So he says, these people are so drawn away with the false that they're preaching, teaching, believing, become such a lifestyle that it's taken them away from the truth. And what is this that they are basically preaching and teaching about? He says, you know, simple things which might sound very trivial, not at all important. He's saying, you know, forbidding to marry and combining to abstain from food which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. So we're saying, hey, for these two reasons, I mean, I can understand if it is something like, you know, if they are going against the truth of who Jesus is, that he is the Son of God, that he's God himself, you know, that, you know, he did not die. But, you know, he did not resurrect or he did not resurrect. His body was stolen away. And, you know, if you're talking about Trinity that there's only, you know, God the Father, there is no God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, we can understand these kind of false teachings, these kind of, you know, things. But I mean, something as small as forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from food, you know, how can it, you know, how can it just take away people from the faith. But, you know, these are small things, you know, with Satan kind of gets in and creates, you know, a foothold in our life. And that can be a kind of a beginning for greater, you know, lies that they can believe in, eros of doctrine that they can accommodate and going away totally from the truth and being led astray. So, you know, the two things that they were saying is forbidding to marry and abstaining from food, a certain kind of food. So, these describe the legalistic teachings of those who departed from the faith. They thought that, you know, they taught people that it was by following, you know, manmade rules that one is justified in God's sight and that, you know, one can be made holy in God's sight. One can be justified before God if they don't marry and if they don't eat certain kind of food. Okay. Now, we've had many people like this, even the early centuries, the early church, there were monks, monks who, you know, they went out to desolate desert places just to show how spiritual they are. They torture themselves, you know, some people never ate cooked food. They, some people stood all night leaning on a sharp rock so that it was impossible for them to speak. Others neglected their own body that, you know, they became so dirty, their bodies that bugs dropped down dead from their body. And they thought they could do all this just to win the favor with God and, you know, somehow show everyone that how spiritual they were. And sometimes we also think, you know, when, if we make sacrifices or make sacrifice to God, example, you know, you know, giving up a right to marry or giving up certain food, then God owes us something. You know, this is, you know, kind of legalism at its worst because we're basically trying to manipulate God into giving us something that we want. But the whole idea is, you know, making God our debtor, you know, making him our servant and, you know, making, and we become his master. Because we are trying to manipulate him, we are trying to control him, we are trying to get things out of him. And it's basically going back to, you know, the original doctrine of Satan, where we should be God, right? What did the serpent, what did Satan tell Eve? If you eat this fruit, you will become like God. Okay. And what was Satan's whole agenda? He wanted to be God. He wanted people to worship him as God. And that is why he was, you know, fell and he was thrown out of heaven. And this is what he tells Eve and Eve, you know, if you eat this food, you will become like God. So basically all of these, you know, we can think these legalistic rituals are so trivial, so small, it is no importance. Why do we even have to think about it? But you see the far greater consequences that it has and how subtly Satan just brings it into simple things like marriage and food. And, you know, finally, we're trying to manipulate God, trying to make him indebted to us and, you know, making him our servant and becoming his master. And coming to a place where, you know, we are God, we know what to do, we know how to make ourselves just and righteous and holy. So when we hear teachings that goes against God's word and its controls and manipulates our choices, the way we live, the way we think, the way we go about doing our lives, you know, we need to be very, very careful. So, you know, instead Paul lets us know that those who know the truth and believe the truth, you know, he says, you can, hey, you can eat all kind of food, you know, anything and everything you can eat. All you need to do is, he's saying, you know, sanctify it and cleanse it with the word of God and prayer. And that is why, you know, we say grace before we pray. And then he goes on to say nothing is to be refused. You know, so he says, you know, you know, don't refuse any kind of food. Every food is, you know, you know, made available to us. We also read this in Genesis chapter one, verse 29, where God gave Adam and Eve all the seed-bearing plants for food. In Genesis chapter nine, verse three, he gave them all the animals. But later on we see, you know, the Jews alone, their certain needs were forbidden as they were God's priests to the nations of the earth. However, this was not true for all other nations. But in the New Testament, we see even those regulations being removed, you know, when God declared that all food is clean. We read this in Mark chapter seven, verse 19, and also in Acts chapter 10, you know, in Peter's, the trance that he sees, you know, where God says, do not declare or call anything as unclean, which I have made clean. Of course, that had a far-reaching spiritual consequence or, you know, what he was going to show them in the physical. But, you know, these restrictions of food was all removed. So Paul is telling them basically, hey, you can eat any kind of food, you know, but what you need to do is make sure that you sanctify it and cleanse it with the word. And with bread. So of course, now, you know, we're not limited to any kind of diet. You know, what we eat does not make us more righteous or less righteous. But of course, we need to eat what is healthy, what keeps us healthy and fit. And not what kind of gets us all, you know, into various kinds of sicknesses because of overindulgence of food, but eating the right kind of food. And of course, you know, the Old Testament laws I have read, scientists say that, you know, the kind of food that God had given the Old Testament, the people, the Israelites in the Old Testament laws was very, very healthy for their bodies. And, you know, it's very, very good. So some of us getting back to those kind of, especially some of us who are rice eaters going back to eating barley and, you know, millets and all of those things, which is very good for our health is something that God told the Old, the people in the Old Testament, olive oil. Nowadays, you know, people say, you know, move on to olive oil, it's good for your heart, keeps your heart healthy. The kind of fruits like pomegranates and figs and all of those things which the people God, you know, provided for his people was the healthy kind of food. It's good to go back to those, you know, those that food laws obey it, live by it, because it is something that is good and healthy for your body. But yet, we are not limited to any kind of diet, but you know, we need to make sure that what we eat is not affecting our health, keeping us healthy. But what we eat in, you know, is not going to make us more righteous or less righteous before God. So look at how Satan subtly, you know, is bringing in these very little things. You know, it's not about teaching about the Trinity, denying the Trinity, these people are not denying Trinity, the deity, humanity of Christ, or even they're not talking against the inherency of scripture, inherency of scripture, the truth of scripture, that you know, scripture is wrong, all of those things. But, you know, it's something that is something that is very simple, which people can easily yield into it. And, you know, these false teachers are focusing on these minor doctrines, you know, such as forbidding for marriage and specific food. But we see that, you know, like Paul says, you know, when he talks about sin in general in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 6, where he says, don't you know that a little yeast affects a whole batch of dal, you know, and he's talking about this in the context of sin. You know, this little sin can affect the entire person. You know, just the sin of disobedience of the first Adam got the whole entire Adamic race into sin. So just as, you know, this little yeast, you know, spreads out and has its effect on the entire dal or the cake that I'm causing it to rise. So also, that's sin. So also, that's false teaching that, you know, spreads throughout our lives and the life of the church. So Satan can, you know, take ground on just one small minor area of doctrine, and then he takes ground on an other minor area. And then sooner or later, you know, it just is kind of impacting the whole faith of the person, the whole faith is leaving, so to say, or impacted with this false doctrine. So see the subtlety with where things come in. So we need to be very careful about being very legalistic about some things in church because how Satan can use that so subtly, you know, to bring in and to leave in the entire church or the person in false doctrine and false teaching and going against the truth. Okay. Also, we see how Paul again mentions about conscience when he says, you know, you know, they're having their own conscience served with a hot iron. Okay, we'll move on to verse four, where he says, you know, you can eat anything and everything, but you know, make sure that you give thanks to God. So thanksgiving is very important. Thank God for what he has given you. And sorry, let me just, yeah, receive a thanksgiving and, you know, should be sanctified by the word and prayer. Okay, we'll move on. Anyone has any questions versus one to five? Yes, Divya. Yes, I just had a doubt about there are some people who not really like Christians who observe like Jewish fees, not in a way that they, they follow it or anything, but you know, they just, yeah, try to get the, you know, essence of it, like Jewish fees and such things. So is it wrong or does, does it, is it related to like these false doctrines that can creep into the church? You mean Jewish fees like the Passover and the harvest and Fendicost, the Feast of Harvest and all that. Of course, the Feast of Harvest Festival, we always celebrate in our churches as well. Just thanking God for, you know, for what he has blessed us with then, you know, the food and giving back to God. It's a good reminder of thanksgiving. The Passover is, I don't think we need to celebrate the Passover because we celebrate what the Passover in what Christ has done, right? With the, with his broken body and his shed blood, we are celebrating that. So we don't need to go back to celebrating what happened in Egypt, the Passover, because now, you know, we're celebrating what Christ has did on the cross for us. That has a far reaching eternal significance then the Passover festival as such. I don't think it's a necessity for us to celebrate. You know, unless, you know, you're doing it because you're getting to believe that if you don't do it, then, you know, you are going to receive curses or not going to receive God's blessing. But we're part of a new covenant, which we have. It's a far greater, you know, a better covenant, better blessings and far reaching, you know, consequences or far reaching blessings that we can receive. Celebrate that, I would say. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Thank you. I was specifically looking at this one like here and all people do celebrate Hanukkah, like the Feast of Destination, the Feast of Dedication. So it's just like a remembrance of how, you know, that God provided the oil for the eight days of feast. Like it's just, you know, just remembering that event as such. But I've heard my people bringing out and trying to relate it to the gospel, you know, like extrapolating it to the gospel message. So I just wanted to understand whether it is false teaching or a false doctrine. Because we just have the Feast of Dedication mentioned probably in one gospel, I believe, Feast of Dedication. Yeah, the history is not really mentioned. I think in the Old Testament, but yeah, there is Feast of Dedication that Jesus goes to celebrate in one of the gospels. I just wanted to know whether it is like a dedication of children or... No, it's Hanukkah or they also call it as Feast of Dedication. Oh, I'm not, I think I need to read up on that. I really don't know because I haven't seen any churches here celebrating that. We celebrate Harvest Festival, but not the Feast of Dedication. No, sorry, I don't have any insights on that. So maybe if I can read up and then maybe help you with that would be better. Okay, thank you. Thank you for that. Just wanted to ask because it's very prevalent over here. And yeah, it's like in schools and all they would want, you know, people to, if there are Jewish children like from Jewish background. So in schools, they can come and, you know, they can explain about this peace and all. So Hanukkah is pretty much celebrated in here. So yeah, I was just curious to know. Yeah, that was, I think, you know, the Jews still celebrate all of these festivals. They do it with great festivities, just like any other religions do. And just like in our culture, we have people from various other religious backgrounds. And, you know, they also celebrate their festivals and they also some of them, you know, they study about it in their textbooks. And they also have special programs where they share what it's all about, what they do and things like that. So I thought you were saying it in the context of the church. So if in the school, I mean, yeah, there are Jewish children, they celebrate it. And the school wants the Jewish children to, you know, talk about their culture to the rest of the other children. So the other children also know what is their culture, what are the festivals they celebrate, which can be a good learning experience for children. But I thought you were saying it in the context of the church. Yeah, actually, there are there are in both ways, like there are Christians who who are like just try to remember like it's an eight day feast. So they light up the man or kind of there are people who do that. It's not like they are linking it to or they are giving it a different turn, but they're just trying to remember God's provision. You know, so it's not like a like, you know, like, Yeah, this is the feast that they celebrate when, you know, they light up the temples, they have these lamps on the walls of the temple. And they, they light it, they have it the entire night and they kind of put it off in the morning. And that's when Jesus entered the temple and then he says he looks at it and, you know, they were just putting off those lights and he says, you know, he makes a statement, I am the light of the world. So in that context, you're saying that right and this day they remember about God's his provision when they were traveling to through the desert. It's actually and I'm not sure about the New Testament reference when this is happening, but actually it isn't remembrance of the temple that was, you know, the, there was a Greek Antiochus Epiphany. He came and he succeeded the temple with like the pigs and all he brought in the temple. So this is when the Maccabees. Yes. Yes. Yes. And they get back. They get back the temple and they sanctify it and consecrate and then they light up the menorah. But they have enough oil for to last the eight, seven or eight days. But with the little oil that they had, they light it up and then God provides the oil for the rest of the days. So it's the remembrance of that event. And they celebrate that. And they light up the menorah and all that. Yes. And Jesus sent us a temple at that time. And then he, in that context, when they were putting all those lights, you know, he says I am the light of the world. Actually, the, that whole temple is so little, it kind of brings light to the entire, the city around them. And everyone celebrates. Yes. Yeah. So, you know, but basically Jesus is saying that, you know, when he says I am the light. And also that he is the one who gives light. So we don't have to really celebrate that because that was more like a revolt. And, you know, also going on to the New Testament tells us that we are the temple of God, you know, God dwells in us. So I think we have, we move on to, you know, to who we are a part of in the New Covenant and what God has called us to and what we celebrate. We celebrate him. Yes. That's why I think Jesus says, you know, I am the light because there is not going to be any more light than the temple just for eight days is going to shine. But, you know, but Jesus is pointing out to him and say, look at me, I am the light of the world. I give the light. Yes. Okay. Anyway, Divya, thank you for that. Thank you. Thank you best. Thank you so much. I'll be move on. Verse six, you know, says if you instruct the veteran in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine, which you have carefully followed. So in the view of, you know, the demonic activity that demons are promoting wrong doctrines to deceive people to draw them away from the truth, you know, or draw them away from the faith totally away from the faith. What is Timothy's role? So Paul is telling Timothy, this is your role. As a spiritual leader, spiritual overseer is to instruct believers and nourish them in the words of faith and sound doctrine. Okay. So we see that believers have to be fed. They have to be taught. They have to be nourished rooted in the words of the faith, the truth, the right doctrines that is in scripture. That is why we see at APC, you know, emphasis, great emphasis is given on teaching the word, the truth of God's word, you know, alignment to the doctrine in God's word. And this is so important to the times that they're living in because there's so much of false doctrine as compared to what, you know, when Paul was writing this letter as well. So the best way to overcome false teaching, false errors, wrong doctrines that are there is not speak about false teachers or false doctrines. Because when you teach about false teachers and false doctrines and this cultic movements and their philosophies and ideologies, people will get so interested that they will go to, you know, research and read and they will get so much into it and that, you know, you never know which stage of life they are in. You know, we said in churches, a family where all of us in different stages of growth, they can easily be led away. So what is important is when you as a leader, as a spiritual overseer, as someone who's mature and you're building up people in the faith, you are involved in teaching ministry. You know, it's to know what is the wrong doctrines, what is the wrong philosophies and lies that are being circulated, and, you know, talk about the truth related to those lies. But don't say these are the lies that these are the wrong doctrines. These are the cultic groups. These are the false teachers. These are the teachings. But instead of saying that highlight the truth. So when people are faced with the lies, when people are come in contact with these wrong doctrines or teachings, then all the truth that you have taught them and exposed to them from scripture, they're able to relate to, they're able to defend, they're able to talk, they're able to find their way through. Okay, so that is what we need to do. So he's saying as a good minister, Timothy, first of all, you need to establish, you know, you yourself have to be established in the words of faith and good doctrine, and be careful to follow them in your own life. He says, before you speak it, speak the truth, teach the truth, preach the truth, you know, you need to be established in the faith, established in the truth in the good doctrine, you know, you need to follow it in your own life, and then you'll be able to instruct and nourish others. He says, but reject profane and old wife fables and exercise yourself towards godliness for bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things having promise of the life that now is, and that of that which is to come. And this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. So he's saying reject profane and old wife fables. So he's saying, you know, don't have anything to do with all of these false teachers, their teachings, these, you know, mythological fables and, you know, endless genealogies and all of these things, you know, just reject all of them. Your priority must not be on focusing on them, talking about them, debating about them, exposing that, but your focus of priority should be on God's word, not on the words of man. And he, Paul is cautioning Timothy and saying keep focused on the word and not on the things that comes from man, you know, put your effort on preaching and teaching the word of God. And then he says, exercise yourself towards godliness. Now, the ancient Greek and the Roman culture, they put high value on physical exercise. You know, so that's why we even read in in the book of Romans, you know, he talks about, and he tells the people that you need to be like a soldier like an athlete, you know, so here also he's telling Timothy that you know, the same kind of work and commitment that others put, you know, towards their physical exercise, you should put in your pursuit of godliness. Okay. And it was something that was very prevalent in that culture, it was well understood that people gave great value and importance to physical exercise. So he's saying just like people put great effort and commitment towards physical exercise, you should also put it towards the pursuit of godliness. And then he goes on to say something very interesting says but broadly exercise profits a little, you know, broadly exercise for people are indulging in the exercise so much it has some value, but, you know, it, it just has value for this life. You know, it does not have anything to do with eternity, it's not a lasting effect. So, you know, the bodily exercise is good for while as long as you're living in this body, but when you exercise godliness, it is good for all eternity, it is good even for eternity. And he says godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that that now is support here explains the value of godliness that he's saying, you know, the value of godliness has value both in the present, and in the eternal sense it has great value. So godliness makes the life that now is better. And he says, you know, you should not hesitate to believe it and tell people about this. So, as a man of God, you know, Paul is encouraging Timothy to exercise towards godliness. He says, look at that he says, you know, train yourself towards godliness or holiness. So godliness, holiness, growth in spiritual things comes through training. Okay, it comes through training and training is not very easy. It requires consistency, it requires discipline, hard work and sacrifice. So if you want to be godly, if you want to be holy, you know, if you want to grow in the things of God, if you want to grow in the spiritual things, then you need to train yourself. You need to put the time, take the effort, be disciplined, be consistent, work hard on that because nothing comes easy and so also with spiritual things. So we need to actually develop and grow in godliness. We must be willing to train ourselves because it has benefit both for this life and the life to come. And he says, you know, this truth that is worthy of all acceptance that everyone should embrace and readily accept. And he says, for this, to this end, we both labored and suffer was 10 and suffered approach because we trust in the living God, who is the savior of all men, especially of those who believe, and these things command and teach. He's saying, as ministers of God, we're laboring towards this, we're establishing God's people in words of faith and sound doctrine, we're exercising ourselves in holiness. And he says, even as we labor towards this, we also, you know, will be spoken bad about. People will backbite gossip or do harm to us. That's what Timothy was facing, but he says, but we trust in the living God, who is our savior. Okay, I'll stop here because our time is up. Any questions? We'll continue with this next class. Anyone has any questions? Okay. No questions. Okay, there are no questions. We'll end class. Thank you all for being patient. The last three hours listening to.