 Okay, good morning everyone and welcome back to class before we look at first Timothy and study it verse by verse. Can one of you quickly lead us in prayer please? Yeah sure, thank you Kiran. Father we just come before once again you're thrown father God, father God, thank you for the all semester father God, thank you the subject father, thank you what we are learning father God and help us to apply to your kingdom for the God. Give your wisdom and knowledge for the God that we can receive your subject that that that heart for the God that we can apply the upcoming timing for the coming future for the God taking you the upcoming time just submitting to your hand for the God take care of every single thank you father thank you almighty Jesus name we pray amen. Amen. Thank you Kiran um so anyone remembers what we studied or learned last Wednesday not two classes just one or two points at least you can tell us what we studied about which books are we studying is the books which books are we studying oh sorry you've written it in the chat okay Timothy okay are we studying Timothy first and second Timothy okay who writes this letter to Timothy who's writing this letter to Timothy okay Apostle Paul okay thank you um okay so anyone can give us a background why he's writing this letter you can unmute your mics and speak please why is he writing this letter to Timothy what is the need anyone remembers the background okay nobody wants to answer okay we see that during Paul's okay thank you Kanan guidelines for new leadership okay thank you so we see that when Paul you know was imprisoned his first imprisonment in Rome he writes four letters and one of those letters he writes to uh the church at Ephesus and this is a book a letter of Ephesians and after he was imprisoned he was for two years he was you know released he was free and then he travels to Crete and he leaves Titus there to oversee the church at Crete and then he and Timothy travel on to Ephesus and since there's a great need at Ephesus because of what the problems the church was going through there were false teachings within the church and teachings from outside that were kind of impacting the doctrine and the teachings and the faith of the believers false teachers there's a lot of confusion things that had to be put in order at the church at Ephesus and also it since it was very important a strategic city and you know the seven churches surrounding that in Asia Minor also came under Timothy's jurisdiction or under his purview he was to oversee all of those churches so there was a great responsibility and Paul knew that Timothy is a right person because you know Timothy had been traveling with Paul alongside with him in the ministry for 17 years and it's a good time of training and Paul sense or felt that Timothy was a right person that he need to leave at Ephesus to oversee and to bring in order and teach the right doctrines to the churches at Ephesus and in the surrounding churches as well okay and then Paul moves on to Macedonia and then he senses a need to write to Timothy just to encourage him to reiterate a few things and to help him deal with the certain issues and concerns with the church at Ephesus okay so we looked at chapter one what is a key takeaway verse in chapter one anyone remembers that what's the key takeaway verse it was five and was 19 where Paul is saying that we must live and must love out of a pure heart a good conscience and a sincere faith thank you Dave so if I do away with a good conscience and do things that my conscience says that are wrong what will ultimately happen is my faith will be shifted and you know I will destroy my own faith and my relationship with God okay now we'll move on to chapter two we read chapter two right last week and we also said a few things that really stood out for us we shared a few things so we're not be reading chapter two entirely but we will be reading it worse by worse and we will study each verse in its historical cultural context and its meaning and significance for us today okay so first Timothy chapter two can somebody read verse one please can read it out quickly please without wasting any time somebody can read first Timothy chapter two verse one verse one therefore I exert first of all their supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men okay thank you so I request you all to keep your bibles open and to follow through and when I ask you to read if you can quickly read it will just help and it will be a good class participation as well now when we are looking at it in our bibles it's like chapter one chapter two chapter three and so on and so forth but when it was written by Paul it was just a letter okay there's no chapter and there is no word so everything is in continuity and in connection with what was written before so in chapter one we see in the last few verses when Paul says you know and begins chapter two was therefore I exhort you is basically connecting it to what he has written you know the last few lines it says in chapter one we read that in the last few verses that there are men who are wandering away from the truth and he mentions few men there and they're wandering away from the truth they're not maintaining a good conscience and hence they are destroying their faith now in continuity with that in line with that Paul is saying therefore I exhort you that means therefore I encourage you exhort means encourage that you know first of all which means the indication that you know it's important that we pray before you do anything to correct or teach you know first of all what you need to do is pray so we see the importance of prayer here and then Paul goes on to say you know pray with supplication prayers intercessions and giving thanks you know that that needs to be made to all men okay now these are all not different these are essentially you know parts of our prayer but you know for and all have to do with praying and they are essentially different parts of prayer but for our purpose of our understanding you know we can look at each one what is supplication supplication is a prayer made from a very weak position you know not from a strong position but something somebody is making from a very weak position they're not in a place of strength it's basically making a plea from a very disadvantageous position and basically praying or petition petitioning or asking for mercy and protection the the picture here is of a beggar okay basically begging or asking for mercy so when we're making supplication it's like you know we're just pleading to God we're not in a very strong position a place of strength we're in a weak position in a disadvantageous position and hence from that position we are pleading God for His mercy and for His protection the second thing is prayer prayer is a request or a petition made for the needs wants or things that we lack that we need that we require the next is intercessions intercession we all know is praying for somebody else or on behalf of somebody else and primarily is you know interceding on behalf of them for their salvation and then giving thanks okay giving thanks for them so all these are basically different aspects of prayer or have to do with praying and so he's saying you know when you pray you know bring forth your supplications your prayer your intercessions and give thanks and he says you know your prayer supplications intercessions giving thanks should be made for all men now the word men here in the greek is anthropos which is gender neutral it does not mean just men okay but it means people so people means men and women um and we see this in some versions we see the word people not men but when we look at this word men in the greek it means anthropos which is a gender neutral which is inclusive of women as well children also okay so he says you know when you pray pray for every one okay and then what does he say about prayer he said you know make this prayer an intercession is to be made for all men okay so how do we practice this praying for people is you know making our supplications intercessions prayer thanks for all men as we do it everywhere anytime whenever it's required and wherever we are so even if you're going in the bus so we're going in the car or we are in a restaurant or you know we are just at home we see something we hear something we see something while we're looking on reading the news the newspaper or listening to the news on tv or looking at it on our mobile phones you know wherever whether you're walking down the street or you're in your house in your locality or in the mall you're driving anywhere when you see something quickly you know make your petitions your supplications your thanksgiving be known to god okay let prayer arise from your heart anytime every time wherever you are you know according to the need that you see around us just let your you know a prayer be made to god take up your prayer request to god or intercede for people so even if you're driving or riding and you hear the ambulance just buzzing pass you know you don't know who's there in the ambulance but you can just pray for that person you see a poor beggar on the street you can just pray for them you see somebody you know not able to walk an elderly person just you know pray you're just looking at all these things but just keep you know sending up your prayer request to god at all times okay so he says pray for all men or pray for all people let's look at verse 2 can somebody read first Timothy chapter 2 verse 2 please for kings and and all others who are in authority that we may live a quiet and peaceful life a peaceful life with all reverence towards god and with proper conduct thank you so here he is instructing us to pray for all people and here pray even for those in civil authority for those who are kings for rulers for leaders and he said why should we pray for kings rulers leaders of our land is so that we can lead you know quiet and peaceful lives and live in all godliness and reverence towards god okay so we are instructed to pray and our prayers do matter and our prayers effect both of these aspects that you know it affects us in a way that we can live quiet and peaceful lives and also that we can live in all godliness and reverence towards god now when paul is asking the church at Ephesus to pray for kings and you know those in authority it was not something very very easy for him to say himself and also for the church to pray for leaders it was not easy for the christians at the paul's time to pray for leaders because the christians were severely persecuted and when paul is writing this the king or the emperor the ruler was nero who was the emperor at rome and now he came into power by murdering two people okay and he was known to be a very wicked and a very terrible man and in 87 in 8064 nero burned down 70 percent of rome okay why did he burn it down so that he could build a palace a bigger palace for himself now when this was not taken well by the people he turned the blame on the christians and hence the christians were severely persecuted you know in that place and nero was also known for entertaining people by throwing christians to animals he made an entertainment about like about christians by throwing them to animals making a sport of them burning christians at as torches for his life of indulgence and extravagance okay so he did all of these wicked things and we see that paul was also in prison he was in prison in sicilia filipi and and he appeared to caesar and hence he was bought to rome and he was waiting for you know caesar to hear his case and we see that you know paul was released from his two years of house arrest of imprisonment when nero heard his case he let him go free but you know we eventually he was again in prison and he was martyred there okay so we see that in spite of them having such a terrible leader paul is still encouraging the church at emphasis and telling them that they need to pray so it was not something very easy that he was asking them to do or easy for himself you know but he asked them to pray for leaders so we too you know we have no excuse scripture tells us that we need to pray for our leaders whoever they are whatever they do you know we are to hold them in prayer and why should we pray for them if we want to live quiet and peaceful lives if we want to live in all godliness and reverence towards god you know then we need to uphold our leaders in prayer okay we'll move on to verses three and four can somebody read verses three and four please both this is good and acceptable in the sight of god our savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth thank you so paul is saying it's good and pleasing in god's sight that we pray for all people especially for those in civil authority and leaders so that we can live quiet peaceful lives and live in godliness and reverence towards god and this praying is also going to lead into fulfilling god's desire what is god's desire that everyone be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth okay so here in verse four we see the desire of god's heart and what is the desire of god's heart that everyone be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth so all that we do are praying are working when it is directed towards fulfilling god's desire under his guidance then we know it is pleasing towards god so this is the truth that we can learn today that it's god's will his good pleasing will that we pray for all men pray for our leaders and pray for people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth okay verses five and two seven can somebody read verses five to seven please can somebody read verses five to seven okay for there is one god and one mediator between god and men the man christ jesus who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time for which i was appointed a preacher and an apostle i am speaking the truth in christ and not lying a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth okay so paul is saying here that you know there is one god and one mediator between god and man there is only one provision that was made for salvation and that salvation is only through jesus christ and you know jesus christ is the only one who gave himself as a ransom for all now the greek word for this word ransom is anti-luteron okay anti-luteron which means redemptive price the price that is made for redemption or the redemption price for freedom this price is paid for a setting a captive that is a slave or a prisoner free and we know that we were all slaves to sin we are slaves and prisoners of satan and jesus gave his life the only life the one life that he had for the redemption of all mankind he gave his life he paid the price for the redemption of all our lives so every person therefore you know can walk in freedom since the price has been made and the devil has no authority over us no holding over us no claim over our lives because jesus has offered the price that the father required for the sins of mankind or for our personal sins so now satan has no legal claim over every individual all of his legal claims have been has been cancelled and you know a satan's claim over us is considered as invalid why it is because the ransom price the price for our freedom that the father required was paid in full was the full sufficient perfect sacrifice was made for the sins of all mankind once for all and it was only through the man jesus christ and then paul goes on to say that he was appointed a preacher and an apostle and so he's saying that we are now here to pray this into effect and to announce or to preach this news to the people who will come to know this truth and embrace jesus and we say what is the truth that it's only jesus christ who made the redemption paid the redemptive price for our sins that there is only one god and one mediator between god and man that is jesus christ so he says pray about this pray this into effect and announce it that means preach this news to the people so that they will come to this knowledge of this truth and they will embrace this truth and they too will be saved and they will be free from slavery of sin and slavery of the devil okay and paul is saying that he is appointed as a preacher as an apostle as a teacher okay so we all know that paul you know was an apostle because he and as he was also a pastor he pastor various churches he planted various churches you know he teaches his thought in various places he writes his letter where he's teaching people through his letters and we also see that he walked in the prophetic office and how do we know that because much of what he wrote was the prophetic new testament scripture so much of the prophetic new testament scripture was written by paul okay and he was he also served in a pastoral capacity where he pastored many churches a apostle he pioneered and planted many churches as well and so we see that an individual can flow in one or more ministry offices or one or more ministry gifts as the lord jesus determines and so here we see that paul was a prophet a pastor a preacher a teacher and an apostle he you know he flowed in more than one ministry office and more than one gift and this is determined by the lord jesus himself and so we see that people and you and i can also flow in more than one ministry gifts and in more than one function in more than one ministry office and paul says that he's a teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth okay so we know that paul was primarily a minister to the gentiles he was taking god's word he was teaching god's word and taking the gospel to the gentiles so we see that you know god can call us to specific people groups this can be a small community a large community he can call us to certain geographical locations to a nation as a whole to different people groups people from different races you know and we need to be willing to go where god is calling us leading us and you know where he's trying to position us so we see that god can call us into various or into more than one office and give us more than one gifts and also send us to different communities different races different geographical locations to preach his word to teach to pastor or to be an apostle okay so we'll move on to verses eight to ten can somebody read verses eight to ten please i desire therefore that the men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands without rug and doubting in like manner also that the women under themselves in the modest apparel with the properly and moderation not with the braided hair or gold pearls or costly clothing but which is proper for godliness with good works let's thank you thomas with all submission thank you okay in the light of all that has been said now paul gets back to his main point about prayer and he's saying here that men pray everywhere now the word here men as used previously in the previous verses we saw he where he uses the word men it means the greek word there is anthropos which is meaning people okay men women children people but here when he's saying men he's using the greek word ana which means specifically male gender specifically men so he's saying that he wants men you know to pray everywhere okay so men are to pray everywhere and it's god's desire for them to pray for everyone so all you men in the class you know god's desire is that you pray for everyone pray everywhere pray anytime with all kinds of supplications intercessions prayer requests and make known your thanks to god and then he just don't just you know talk to men but he's also writing about women and he's saying that likewise women are also to pray and he wants women to adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing now some people have taken this verse and interpreted saying that you know scripture says that women should not you know dress with good clothes you know should not prayed or put you know good hairstyle put some nice fancy hairstyles or they should not wear gold or pearls or any costly clothing now what is your view on this people are taking this verse and they have interpreted it like women should not wear costly clothing pearls gold they should not braid their hair should be very simple attire what is your thoughts or views on this can we have some of your views and thoughts please here uh go ahead no you go okay go ahead and okay tom is go ahead you speak yes yeah and actually paul is saying that the focus the interest and the devotion supposed to be in god not on the dress or personal things more than that we should give the importance that's what it means according to me absolutely right thank you tom is yeah the focus should not be on what you're wearing or your clothes or your hairstyle or your jewelry but it should be more on god and godliness and you know focus mainly on god yes yes kiran yeah we cannot take any verse any one single verse and apply to like our some some thought that it here is paul is saying to entire the passage for in that moment on that day yeah okay we can't just take this verse in isolation and kind of you know interpret it we need to see it in its historical cultural setting and in light of the rest of other scripture yes so dav is saying that it was strictly for the woman in that timeline not for women now okay very gracious thank you okay so you know here what like paul say sorry like tom has just mentioned you know paul is also say meaning that women must join in prayer just like men do okay so how should men pray paul says that their prayer should be coupled with surrender when he means lifting up of hands it means totally surrender submitting to god he says when you pray you should pray with the holy hands that means pray in holiness in reverence in total submission and surrender to god and he's saying that you know pray without wrath or doubting which means don't pray in anger and don't pray and pray without quarreling so he's telling men that when they pray their prayer must be coupled with surrender that is lifting up of their hands holiness that is holy hands without anger and without quarreling when he says that you know they should not argue or pray without doubting so he says in the likewise women should also join in prayer just like men you know they should do it in holiness in total surrender and do it without quarreling you know not in anger and also he's mentioning here that women should dress modestly he's not saying that you should not you know actually not wear any gold or pearls or a costly clothing but he's saying you know dress modestly you know and engage in good works so that you're the way you dress shows godliness it demonstrates godliness your good works can also demonstrate godliness your good works are in line with your character the way you dress the way you appear the way you act and all should be to demonstrate godliness so your focus should be basically on godliness and in good works and not just in you know dressing and not just in your outward attire and your outward looks and hence when we look at this passage we cannot say this passage means that women should not wear jewelry you know when we make statements like this that women should not wear jewelry should not you know come with fancy hairstyles braided hair or a costly clothing we must always when we when we try to interpret or understand scripture or we make statements that you know women should not wear jewelry it we should always make it or interpret it in the light of other scripture or the rest of scripture so now does the rest of scripture strictly prohibit women from wearing gold pearls braiding their hair and wearing costly clothing now we're looking at this not because Paul is saying that they should not wear he does not mean that they should not wear he's saying you know focus more on godliness and not meaning to say they should not be wearing all of these things but we are looking at in the light of what how people have interpreted this line saying that women should not braid their hair or wear costly clothing or jewelry so in the light of that let's look at other scripture passages does other scripture passages strictly prohibit women from doing all this the answer is yes or no what is the answer come on there's a rest of scripture prohibit people from women from wearing costly clothing gold I don't see any answers in the chat section nobody wants to say anything I don't think so yes you're right Dave it's the scripture does not you know mention this it's a no okay so we let's look at an example about Abraham's wife Sarah now in 1st Peter chapter 3 verses 1 to 6 you know Sarah is pointed as an example to follow as a godly woman who is in submission to her husband so we see that you know we have to follow in her steps that's what Peter's writing in 1st Peter chapter 3 verses 1 to 6 but did Sarah wear good clothes and gold yes because you know when Eliezer was sent to look for a wife for Abraham's son he takes gold with him clothing with him he takes gold bangles and he also gives a nose ring and gold bangles to Rachel and so we see you know when he goes to find a bride for Abraham's son he presents all of these things as skips so we see that people in in those times in the Old Testament times they did wear ornaments and jewelry so when Paul is saying that women should dress modestly he's saying it you know because they need to be conscious of the men that are there the men that are looking at them to dress in a modest way that will not kind of tempt men or will not kind of distract men in a church service or in a prayer meeting so he's asking them to dress modestly okay because men are watching them and he's asking Paul is asking the women to be considered with the men and you know what they face and what they will go through when they see women dress very beautifully with all their fancy things okay any questions so far any doubts any comments okay so it's clear okay so we women when we dress you know we can dress well but dress in a modest ways that we are not kind of distracting others during the church service or in church and being a distraction to men and you know be considered to men okay we'll move on to verses 11 to 15 can somebody read verses 11 to 15 please let a woman learn in silence with all submission and I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man but to be in silence for Adam was formed first then Eve and Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived fell into transgression nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith love and holiness with self-control okay thank you Kannan okay so here you know again people have taken these verses and misinterpreted that and said that women should not preach should not teach they cannot be leaders in the church they can teach in children's church it's okay but not you know in the adult larger gathering of the church they cannot be leaders deacons pastors bishops because of what Paul said that women should learn in silence with all submission and he does not permit women to teach or have authority over man but to be in silence okay so what do you think what do you think is Paul really saying that women should not preach teach they should be silent they cannot be leaders in the church do you agree with people who are polled this kind of thought this trend and make this as a rule what is your ideas can we have some of you sharing your thoughts please yeah my woman can teach and preach and share the gospel to the Gentiles this contains on that moment when Paul was sharing on that that time okay so Kiran is saying yes women can preach teach be leaders but again as Paul is writing here it's to a specific context a historical cultural setting that he's he's writing to anyone else how many of you think that women should not preach teach and be leaders I know if you would want to say so all of you agree that women can preach teach and um no one okay okay fine so what is uh Paul really trying to uh uh you know mean when he what does he mean yes Thomas no I said I I I agree women can preach and teach but there's kind of denomination there but uh yes you can accept because God doesn't have the partiality or God sees as a move yes you're right because we see a scripture so we we need to understand what Paul is writing firstly saying here okay and we need to interpret these verses in the light of Paul's own ministry practice the context in which Paul is writing this episode to Timothy and we need to also interpret this in the light of other scripture okay and as Thomas rightly said you know we there are scripture passages that attest that you know for God God is not a partial God for him there's no June or Greek male nor female all are one in Christ Jesus he loves everyone the same okay and we also see the work of the Holy Spirit being manifested through you know some women leaders Deborah got choosing them as heard as a judge okay and as well you know Philip whose his daughters I think seven daughters Philip had were all prophetists okay so we see that you know God choosing women into prophetic ministry into different offices and empowering them with different gifts for the building of his kingdom so let's look at these verses in the light of Paul's own ministry practice us and then we look in the context in which Paul is writing this episode to Timothy and then we look at it in the light of the rest of scripture okay so in in the light of Paul's own ministry practice we see that he does not keep away women from being involved in ministry but we see that women were part of his team ministry team he also points them as leaders bishops deacons in various places now we see that Paul had Priscilla and Aquila and Priscilla now Aquila and Priscilla were husband and wife who were part of his ministry team and he recognized them as a part of his ministry team and also as his co-workers he mentions them Paul mentions Aquila and Priscilla as his co-workers in Romans chapter 16 verses three to four if he if he acknowledged only men then he could have mentioned only Aquila and not the woman Priscilla but he mentions Aquila and Priscilla in also the same chapter of Romans chapter 16 verses one and two Paul recognizes a woman called Phoebe as a leader and as a deacon and in the same chapter verse seven he recognizes Junia a woman leader and a fellow prisoner and also somebody who is respected by other apostles and possibly was an apostle herself okay and so we see that women were part of the ministry team of Paul he appointed them as leaders in various places he did write about them and he also acknowledged that they were apostles or deacons or leaders okay we also see when Paul is writing in Romans chapter 12 where he's talking about the membership functional gifts membership gifts of teaching prophecy leadership he does not mention one specific gender there it doesn't just mention male but it's distributed across all believers without being gender specific and Paul here in Romans chapter 12 he mentions you know now the gifts are given to each one okay if he had to say that it's mentioned he was only for men then he would have mentioned it but he says it's his gifts are given to each one when he's talking about the gifts of the spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 there also you know it's he's writing to the church at Corinth about the the gifts of the spirit and there it's also without mentioning any specific gender and he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 26 Paul is saying that he encourages that all that is men and women prophesy and he teach and teach so he says he encourages all to prophesy and teach and this all can is inclusive of men and women and in verse 26 of that of chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians Paul is saying what then shall we say brothers and sisters when you come together each of you has a hymn or a word of instruction a revelation a tongue or an interpretation everything must be done so that the church may be built up so he says you know it's so wonderful whether the church at Corinth when they all came to meet men women each one of them had a word of you know a wisdom word of knowledge or they had a prophecy an instruction a revelation a tongue you know a hymn and somebody was wanting to interpret the tongues so everybody were eager to do it and so he says very good all of you can speak but you know it must be done in a way that there is a perfect order okay not in chaos not in confusion everyone talking at the same time you know take turns but do it in order and do it so that the church can be built up okay we'll stop here and come back after the break and continue