 Welcome back after the break. We were looking and studying 1 Timothy chapter 3, verses 14 to 15, where Paul says, talks about how we ought to conduct ourselves in the house of God. And we looked at what is the house of God. He also says, the church of the living God. What is the Greek word for church? What's the Greek word for church? You all know it's ecclesia. And what does ecclesia mean? Church means, ecclesia means called out. The called out ones, those who are called out or called together for a specific purpose. And we all know that there is a call upon us as a body of Christ, as a family, as a church of God. And each one of us in the family of God, in the body of Christ, in the church, you know, are called to carry out specific roles and responsibilities, to carry out certain things, to carry out and do certain things. And we must go together and do things together and work together, you know, and not pull in different directions, okay? But follow the vision of the church in our local churches, not pull in different directions with the vision that is there. But fulfill the call, the mandate, the vision that is upon the local church that we are part of. So we all need to work together to, you know, fulfill the vision that God has given for our respective local churches and together as a citywide church, okay? He says the church of the living God, you know, so we are not the church of a person, you know, representing a specific person. You know, the pastor who is in church but we are the church of God, the church of the living God who lives and he has called us together for a specific purpose and we are all called to fulfill that specific purpose as, you know, people who are part of a local church and as a body of Christ. And then he says the church is also the pillar and the ground of truth, okay? The pillar and ground basically is the foundation of the church. So what is the foundation of the church? Sorry? Truth, yes. The foundation of the pillar of the church is truth. So as people who are part of the body of Christ, the church, you know, we are responsible to uphold and bear the truth of God, of His Word, the doctrines in His Word in the world today, in the society, okay? So how can we be bearers and upholders of the truth as the body of Christ? Any thoughts? How can we be bearers and upholders of the truth as the body of Christ? Any thoughts by walking in His Word, okay? Reflecting Him wherever we go, okay? Hello everyone else in class? There are supposed to be 12 people apart from Jeffina and me, so can I hear some of you sharing? How can we be upholders and bearers of the truth in the society? Always having faith that works. What I actually mean is that we should be preaching what we are living. What the Bible says, we should be living up to that standard. Not saying one thing and saying the other. There is an old Marxism which says, do as I say but not as I do. We shouldn't be like that. We should always do what we say and what the Bible says. Thank you. Okay, thank you, Lubega. Not just being... I mean good examples. Okay, being good examples, okay? So basically like you all said, we need to speak the truth, live the truth, walk the truth. Just everything that we do, the way that we live our lives, should be people who are upholding and bearing the truth. But sadly in today's churches, they don't value the truth. They don't know the truth. Okay, firstly they don't know the truth and they don't live the truth, okay? And hence we see those churches, you know, the pillars are very shaky there because they're building on shaky ground. There's not strong foundation. So Paul, you know, closes his entire talk which he's giving by saying that, you know, what is the truth? You know, and we need to know the truth. We must embrace the truth and we need to uphold the truth in the community because we are the Ecclesiast. We are the people of God. We are the body of Christ, okay? Verse 16, can somebody read verse 16 please? The answer chapter, it was 16. Can somebody read that please? And without controversy, great is the mystery of God in it. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, sinned by angels, preached among the Gentiles, lived on in the world, received up in glory. Amen. Thank you, Lubega. To read this in the message Bible verse 16 says, this Christian life is a great mystery. Far exceeding our understanding, but some things are clear enough. What are some things that are clear enough that he appeared in human body, was proved right by the invisible spirit, was seen by angels. He was proclaimed among all kinds of people believed in all over the world and taken up into heavenly glory. Okay. So basically verse 16 says an early hymn that Paul is quoting which expresses the foundations of the Christian truth. So he's saying, hey Timothy, we need to be upholders and bearers of the truth. And what is the truth? So he's, you know, just highlighting the truth which is taken from an early hymn which is basically expressing the foundation of our Christian faith or Christian truth. And he's saying, you know, and without controversy, which means this, the wonderful summary of the Christian truth should, what he's mentioning below is should be without controversy. That means we need to accept this truth which he's mentioned in verse 16, you know, without arguing, without disputing, and without debating. But sadly these days, you know, Christians are basically debating to deny the fundamental truths or doctrines in God's word. So what are the truths he says God was manifested in the flesh? Okay. He's talking about the essence of incarnation, how God became man. The second person, the Trinity, you know, became man. He was fully God. He was fully man, 100% God, 100% man. And God manifested himself in the flesh. His life here on the earth, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, you know, and that he's alive, he's glorified. So this is the preaching of the gospel. And he's telling Timothy, you need to preach this gospel without compromise. This is the truth the church upholds in the world. And he talks about being justified in the spirit. Okay. He says God was manifest in the flesh and justified in the spirit. Now, what does he mean by saying he was justified in the spirit? What does it mean by saying that Jesus was justified in the spirit? Any thoughts? Justified means what? Hello class. What does justified mean? That means right standing with God. Right standing with God. Okay. So what does this phrase mean justified in the spirit? Thank you. She says declared righteous. So, you know, when we say that Jesus was justified in the spirit, we're not saying that in the sense that he was once sinful and made righteous. We don't say that he was, we don't mean to say that he was once sinful and made just, and he was justified. Just like we were sinful and we were made righteous. We were sinful and we were justified. But in the sense, it talks in the sense here that he was who he was declared to be always. He was always declared by the Holy Spirit that he was always completely justified before the Father. Okay. So Jesus was always right before the Father. He was always justified. He was once sinful and made righteous. So once sinful and was justified. But in the sense that he was declared to be by the Holy Spirit what he always was. He was always completely justified before the Father. Okay. And you know, Paul talks of how he was seen by angels. Where there are various instances when Jesus was seen by angels? Or the angels ministered to him? Yes, no? Yes. Yes. Okay. When are the instances when he was ministered in the wilderness? 40 days of fasting. Okay. When else? Yes. At the tomb. Thank you. Before the tomb at the Garden of Gethsemane. Remember? Luke chapter 22 was 43. When Jesus prays, Father take this cup for me at not my will, but yours be done. And then the angel appeared to him from heaven and strengthened him. Okay. And just like Lubéga said, you know, at the tomb in Matthew chapter 28 verses 22, 7. Okay. There was an angel standing at the door or the entrance of the tomb. And also the angel answered the woman in verse 5, the same chapter in Matthew chapter 28. Okay. And it says here that he was preached among the Gentiles. Okay. Believed on in the world. Yes. So this gospel has to be preached. Paul is saying that, hey, I've been also doing this. I've been doing my best to fulfill the statement of preaching to the Gentiles. And we know that Paul was busy preaching among to the Gentiles, bringing the word of God, the gospel to of Jesus Christ to the world, to the Gentiles. And then he says, you know, he writes and says he was received up in glory. So he's talking about Jesus' ascension. After he finished his work, you know, he ascended back to the father. Okay. So he's saying, you know, this is the basic truth, you know, of that we need to preach that God was manifesting the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, and believed on in the world and received up in glory. He's talking about his ascension. Okay. So he said, preach these things and, you know, teach these things and be appolders of this truth. And this is what we also have to do as a church where we have to be guardians, custodians, where we are appolding the truth and also preaching and teaching this truth to the world. Okay. Any questions? First Timothy chapter three, any questions? Any doubts? Any queries anyone else has? Okay. No doubts, no questions. Then we'll move on to chapter four. Okay. So can one of you please read chapter four verses one to five, please. Now there's clear, there's clear, there's clear things that in later times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience, seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving. So it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. Amen. Amen. Thank you Rosalind. So Paul is going on to once again reminding and warning Timothy about the works of the deceiving spirits and demons that promote all kinds of wrong teachings and ideas that can draw people away from the faith. Okay. So he says, now the spirit expressly says, so Paul is especially marking this as a revelation from the Holy Spirit. He's saying, you know, even though the Holy Spirit is inspiring to write all of these things, but here he's specifically saying, you know, that the Holy Spirit is telling him even as he's writing this or he's mentioning this, he's saying this is a revelation from the Holy Spirit that there is going to be certain dangers that would mark the latter types. Okay. What are some of the dangers that will mark the latter times? Sorry. Some will depart from the faith. Yes. What else? Appearance of the Antichrist. Appearance of the Antichrist that is deceiving spirits. Yes. And then doctrines of demons. Okay. So he's saying basically some will depart. He's talking about dangers of apostasy. Basically apostasy means falling away from the truth, falling away from their faith. Okay. Then he talks about the danger of deceiving spirits, which is the danger of deception. And then he's talking about the doctrines of demons, which is to talk the danger of false teachings. So in the latter times, you know, he's saying there will be danger of apostasy, danger of deception, and danger of false teaching. Okay. So we need to keep our eyes and ears open to all of these things. And he says, you know, some will depart from their faith. Now the faith means this does not mean losing the ability to believe, you know, but it is basically abandoning their faith in Christ Jesus. Abandoning their faith in the doctrines in the essential teachings of Christianity. And he's saying that men and women who are empowered by these deceiving spirits or these demonic powers will promote or they will teach, you know, or they will teach or they promote and they will speak lies in hypocrisy and they will have their own conscience seared. Okay. So speaking lies in hypocrisy. What does it mean? It basically describes those who will depart from their faith, their belief in the doctrines, the belief in the gospel, in the basic doctrine of the Holy Spirit or, you know, of Jesus Christ. And, you know, this points out to one who's willingly, you know, embracing falsehood just to justify their own sin or right. So why do they go back from their faith or why do they speak lies in hypocrisy? It's because they're willingly embracing false teachings or false truths of falsehood to justify their own sin and pride. Okay. And it also refers to those who claim to teach the Bible, but they claim to teach it, you know, basing it on their own selfish agendas just to support their own ideas or their own agendas. Okay. And we also see that Jesus, you know, you know, he talks about hypocrisy. He talks about hypocrites, right? Does he do that? In his, you know, when he walked the earth here, did he talk about hypocrites? Did he want people about hypocrites? Sure. Yes. Especially when it was referring to the Pharisees. Yes. Thank you, Lubega. When he was talking about Pharisees, you know, in Matthew chapter 23, Jesus declares, he says, go to use scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Why does he call them hypocrites, Pharisees and scribes? Okay. They were especially displaying something different from what they actually mean. For instance, they would conceal, they would conceal their evil desires into their law, like in the respect of the Sabbath and so on. Yes. True. What did you say? Thank you, Lubega. What did you say, Jefina? They would share their own ideas. Yes. So he, basically Jesus in Matthew chapter 23, he's condemning them for not practicing what they preach. Okay. And for burdening people with laws and rituals and rules, while they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to help others or, you know, you know, they do things just to make themselves known, to call for attention, like they were elaborate garments and they sit in special seats and they engage in all manner of behavior, you know, just to call for attention to themselves, you know, and being very proud of themselves and elevating themselves above the others. Okay. And we see that, you know, Jesus calls them as hypocrites and he also condemns them for being, you know, full of greed and self-indulgent, self-indulgent, you know, praising great value on matters that are immaterial, minor, you know, not necessary while neglecting, you know, being compassionate, gracious, merciful, justice and being faithful. Okay. We also read in Matthew chapter 7, verses 1 to 5, where Jesus condemns, you know, the hypocritical, those who are self-righteous, you know, being self-righteous for the judgment of others, where he says, you know, he says, take out the log in your own eye before you, you know, tell someone else to remove the speck in their eyes. Basically, Jesus is pointing out, what Jesus is pointing out here is to condemn them as hypocrites in their judgments when they make about others based on their own pride rather than, you know, their own godly desire to, their own, you know, the godly desire that they have in them to correct somebody because of their sin or the godly desire in them to address sin. So they're not doing it out of a godly desire to address sin, but they're doing it based on their own pride, saying, hey, we don't do this, you know, you are and condemning them. So based on that, you know, Jesus is basically condemning those who are hypocritical because of their self-righteous judgment. Okay. So we see that Jesus also speaking about this. And so here Paul is saying, you know, those, be careful of those who speak lies in hypocrisy. And he says, having their own conscious seared with a hot iron. What does this mean? Having their own conscience seared with a hot iron. Any thoughts? Any thoughts about having their own conscience seared with a hot iron? What does it mean? I think when it's your own consciousness like a judge to you or when it is like the one kidding you say, what you're doing, what you're doing is the opposite, what you're trying to create. Something over the sword. Okay. Thank you, Lubega. So your consciousness basically tells you what is right and what is wrong. It blows the whistle when you're doing something wrong, saying, hey, you know, this is not what you're supposed to be doing. This is wrong. But, you know, so our conscious tells us what is, what we're doing is wrong. It tells us what is right. You know, so when our conscience are alive to certain things, to certain sins, you know, we know that our conscience blows the whistle. Okay. But if we continuously overlook that, our conscience becomes dead to that part of the sin. You know, so for example, if a terrorist takes a gun for the first time and shoots somebody, I'm sure for the next one week, one month, he's just going to be terrified that he's shot somebody. But then he comes to a place where his conscience is so dead to killing that he can take his rifle and or his gun and he can shoot at random, not looking whether it's a baby, it's an infant, a child, a pregnant woman or older person, whatever just can go on a shooting rampage. Okay. Why? Because his conscience is dead to sin. So, you know, if you caught in adultery, you know, your conscience can be so dead that you're thinking, hey, it's okay. I mean, what I'm doing is right. You come to a place where you think you're doing is right. So at one point in time, we would have our conscience convicting us of the sin or convicting us, hey, that we're going away from the right doctrine, from the truth. Okay. But when we continually keep heeding to the lies, you know, it comes to a place where our conscience is dead. In a sense, he's saying here our conscience is seared. It is as if the nerve endings of their conscience has been burned. You know what happens if your nerve endings of your nerves is dead, you can't feel pain, right? You can't feel pain because your nerve endings are dead. So you're basically, you know, even if you take that finger and my nerve endings are dead in this part of my finger, if you take this finger and place it on a hot object, I will not feel the heat because my nerve endings are dead. So he's saying basically your conscience is dead. So that is why your conscience is dead to the truth. And that's why you're continuing to preach the truth, speak the lies and hypocrisy and, you know, lift the truth and teach the truth. And then he goes on to verse 3 says, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from food which got created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. So this describes, you know, legalistic teaching of those who have departed from the truth, departed from their faith, you know, and now they begin to teach what is, you know, or they're following what is man-made rules, you know, and they're trying to justify that and bring it as something that is important in God's sight and saying that, hey, if you eat certain kind of food, follow certain kind of days, follow certain kind of rituals, you will be more holy to God. So these teachers who are basically, who are their conscience is seared or, you know, speaking lies and hypocrisy, basically those who are, you know, following apostasy who have departed from the truth, who are in the danger of deceiving spirits, danger of false teachers, that is doctrine of demons. He's saying such people, when they preach and teach, they would bring out their own man-made rules and listen. They're saying that you have to keep this if you are to be holy before God or if you are to, you know, receive his blessing. So he's saying, you know, they are saying, you know, people should, what are some of the things they're saying? They are saying that you need to, you know, refrain from maddening and abstain from certain kind of food, okay? So he says, when you hear such teaching that goes against God's word, you know, be careful because such teachings finally control you because they manipulate your choices, how you live, and you need to be very, very careful. Instead, Paul, you know, lets us know that for those who know and believe the truth, he's saying, hey, you can eat any kind of food, okay? Because he's saying these kind of teachers are saying, you shouldn't marry, you shouldn't, you should abstain from certain kind of food. But Paul is telling us, you know, for those who know the truth, who believe the truth, we know that we can eat any kind of food, okay? Why can we eat any kind of food? All, and how can we know that food is right and blesses us? He's saying all we need to do is sanctify that food and cleanse it with the word of God and prayer. That is why we say grace before we eat. And then he says, nothing is to be refused. So he says, you know, you can eat any and every kind of food, you know, we are not limited by any kind of diet, you know? What you eat does not make you more righteous or less righteous before God. But yes, what you eat is very, very important because that can affect your health, okay? But that does not make you more righteous or less righteous. Now, because it says, you know, nothing should be refused, doesn't mean that those of us who are following strict dietary rules, given to us by the doctor, we can just throw it and we can just go and eat anything and everything. No, what you eat affects your health. You know, we need to be careful with the kind of food that we eat and that is why in the Old Testament, we see God gives people certain kind of food that they eat. And if we look at that Old Testament laws, scientists today, researchers today, dieticians today says, you know, God was so mindful of even of his people, the food that they were eating and these food is so good for their health. So if you go to doctors or cardiologists, they say, hey, switch on to olive oil. You know, if you go to a dietician and you have sugar-related problems, liver-related problems saying, switch on to millets, you know? So, and we know that, you know, all of this was what God gave them as food for his people, his chosen people. So it's important that, you know, yes, we can eat anything and everything Paul says that, nothing seems to be refused. And because nothing is, food is not going to make us less righteous or more righteous before God. But it's our faith, our belief in God that is, and the work, the finished work of Jesus on the cross that is going to make us righteous. But we need to be careful what we eat because it affects our health, okay? And moving on towards also reminding us that again, he's talking here about conscience, okay? What he spoke in, spoke in chapter one and chapter two. Before we move on to verse six, anyone has any questions, doubts? Any questions, any doubts? Okay. There are no questions, no doubts. Can somebody read verses six to verse nine, please? Can somebody please read verses six to verse nine? If you instruct the brethren 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, but reject profane and old wives' fables and exercise yourself toward godliness, for bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. Amen. Thank you, Rosalind. So verse six, he says, in the view of all of this demonic activity in promoting the wrong doctrines to deceive people, draw people away from the faith, he's reminding Timothy about his responsibility. What is his responsibility, his role as a spiritual leader? The role of a spiritual leader, the responsibility as a spiritual leader is to instruct believers, is to teach them, preach and teach the word, the truth, the right doctrines, teach and preach the word of faith and the sound doctrines. That is his responsibility, and so he is reminding young Timothy. And believers need to be taught the truth, they need to be rooted in the truth, in the words of faith, in the sound doctrine, and they need to be built on it. So as a preacher, as a teacher, as a pastor, you need to emphasize on ministering the word of God, teaching the word of God, so that every believer is strengthened and built up in the word of God, especially in the times that we are living in, because there's so much of apostasy, there's so much of wrong teaching and wrong doctrines, and the best way to combat false teaching, false truth is to have people establish, rooted, built in their strong foundation in the truth, in the doctrines of God's word. And for that, it's important that we as ministers of God, we need to be a good minister, you know. So he's telling Timothy, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and good doctrine, if you carefully follow all of these things. So it's important that we as ministers of God should be good ministers. We need to be established in the words of faith, in the sound doctrine, the good doctrine, carefully follow everything, you know, in our own life, then we will be able to instruct and teach and build others and nourish others in the faith, okay. What's the 7-9? He says reject profane and old wives' fables, okay. Like I mentioned in Romans, you know, basically these Jewish people who were becoming Christians or coming into the church, they were bringing their own, you know, homeless genealogies, old myths, fables, tales and everything, you know, and they were teaching it to the Gentiles. They wanted them to follow it. They wanted them to follow the rituals of food and the way to dress and everything, certain days that they had to observe. So Paul is telling Timothy, reject all of these things. The priority must be on God's word, not on what these false teachers are teaching, not on the words of man, okay. And Paul cautioned Timothy to keep focus on the word of God, not on things that are being taught, not on things that are being discussed, you know, just teach purely the word of God. And then he says exercise yourself towards godliness, okay. The ancient Greek and Roman culture, you know, they put high value on physical exercise. So in that context, Paul is telling Timothy, you know, the same works good, you know, for godliness as well. You know, the same work and commitment that others put towards physical exercise should also be towards, you know, the pursuit of godliness, work in the same way, committed in the same way in the pursuit of godliness. So he says, godly exercise profits a little, you know. Yes, he's saying godly, you know, he's saying bodily exercise, sorry, profits a little. He's saying, yes, bodily exercise, you know, has some value. Okay. You know, bodily exercise is good for a little while, but you know, till we are living here on this earth, that's good for our body. But he's saying exercising unto godliness is good for all eternity. Okay. So when you exercise in godliness, it's good for all eternity. That's why he says godliness is profitable in all things, having promise of the life that now is. So Paul here is basically explaining the value of godliness, both in the present sense and in its eternal sense, saying godliness makes the life that we're living now better. Okay. And we should not hesitate to believe it and to tell people this. And he's saying as a man of God, he's telling Timothy, Paul is encouraging Timothy to exercise towards godliness. That means train yourself towards godliness, train yourself towards godly living, holiness. Okay. And godliness, holiness and growth in spiritual things, you know, comes through training, comes through commitment, comes through pursuing it, comes through being diligent and committed and focusing on it. Okay. And we know that, you know, when we do physical exercise, you know, physical exercise daily, pushing ourselves to do physical exercise is not very easy. It requires discipline. It requires hard work. It requires sacrifice. You know, I have to walk every day for half an hour. And sometimes it's very, very difficult, but you know, it requires discipline. It's hard work. I'm just sometimes keep constantly looking at my time when, you know, the half an hour is over, I go back home. It is a sacrifice that we make. So he's saying similarly, when we do this in godly, you know, bodily exercise, it's important also to develop and grow in godliness. So even godliness, you know, it requires discipline, hard work, sacrifice. We need to be willing to train ourselves. Just like bodily exercise has some benefits, it says godly exercise, godliness has benefits both in this life and the life to come. Okay. And he's saying this is truth that is worthy of all acceptance. That means that everyone should embrace it and readily accept it. Okay. Any questions? Any doubts before we move on to verses 10 and 11? Okay. There are no doubts. Can somebody, Zealotoli, can you please read verses 10 and 11, please? To this end, we both labor and suffer repose because we trust in the living god, who is the saver of all men, especially of those who believe these things, command and teach. Amen. Thank you, Zealotoli. So as ministers of God, you know, we are to be laboring towards this. What are we to be laboring towards? What are we supposed to be laboring towards? What is Paul being telling Timothy? What have we been learning? What should we labor towards? To be a good minister. Okay. Thank you, Rosalind, to be a good minister. What are we also supposed to be laboring towards? Thank you, Jeffina, to be upholders of the truth. You know, we need to establish God's people in the truth of God's words, sound doctrine and faith. Also, we need to exercise ourselves in holiness, godliness. You know, as we labor towards this, you know, he says we can also suffer reproach. We can be spoken bad of. We can be despised. We can be hated. But what does he tell Timothy? Trust in the living God, who is our saviour. So he knows that, you know, Timothy is laboring towards this, establishing people in God's word, teaching the sound doctrine. You know, he's exercising and living towards godliness and holiness. And he's saying, hey, Timothy, you will suffer reproach. I know you want to run away from Ephesus because you are suffering reproach, but he's saying trust in the living God, who is our saviour. Okay. So I think this should be the great motto of the Christian life, that we need to trust in the living God. Okay. Whatever is our situation, whatever is the circumstances, we need to trust in the living God. You know, in 1 Samuel chapter 17, verse 26 and 36, you know, David was challenged by Goliath. But David challenges Goliath in the name of the living God. What does David say? I don't come to you with sword and shield, but I come to you in the name of the God of Israel, the name of the living God. So our trust should be in the living God because it's the living God who empowers us to accomplish great things for his glory. Okay. And so he's saying that, you know, put your trust in the living God, the saviour of all men, especially of those who believe. Saviour of all men. Paul is emphasizing the idea that when we preach and each our priority must be kept on the message of Jesus Christ. And what is the message that he's a saviour of all of mankind. Now, when we say this phrase, saviour of all men, does it mean that, you know, all men will be automatically saved in a very universalistic sense? What do you think? No. It means that, yes, Jesus is the saviour of all men. He died and his blood can save everyone. But it also means that, you know, each one has a choice to make. Okay. It means that there is only one saviour for all men that is the Lord Jesus Christ and also that, you know, even though he died to save all mankind, there is also commitment on our path. There's a choice that we also need to make. And so Paul is saying in verse 11, his commanding Timothy, encouraging Timothy, he's encouraging Timothy to command and teach. Okay. The word command can be translated to order. So he's telling Timothy, hey Timothy, you know, when you go to the pulpit to preach and teach, don't preach and teach with speculations, opinions and theories of men, but, you know, be fearless and fearlessly proclaim God's word as a command and don't give in to the fear of men. Okay. So what does command and teach these things refer to? So when Paul says command and teach these things, he's referring to the instructions that he has already given Timothy in chapter 4 verses 1 to 10. Okay. Chapter 4 verses 1 to 10, you know, he says you should warn the flock of false teachers, avoid it himself, and you should discipline himself in godliness and train others to do so. But, you know, however, you know, these instructions were just not just Timothy, but also for all the saints at Ephesus. Okay. So another good quality of a good minister is that they need to preach and teach the word fearlessly with the authority that God has given to them. Okay. Verse 12. Can somebody read verse 12 please? Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Amen. Thank you, Rosalind. So here he says, you know, Timothy was young, but Paul is encouraging him to set an example to the believers. You know, he's saying as a leader he has to set an example, set the standard, be the role model, and let no one look down on him because he is young. So what are the ideas he's asking him to set an example in? First in word. Okay. Which means in speech, what he says, how he says it in conduct, which means in the manner of life, in his behavior, how he's living his life. You know, his lifestyle, how he handles money, how he handles his family, friendship, you know, personal appearance, the work, entertainment, anything and everything as ministers of God, we need to glorify God. So, you know, in our behavior, in our lifestyle, how we handle money, our finances, our family, our friendships, our personal appearances, our work, our entertainment, all must seek to glorify God. Okay. So he says, modeling godliness in our daily conduct in the things that we eat, drink, and everything else. So he says, model godliness in all things and at all times. And then he says, you know, in love, how you love people, you know, in the spirit, he says, you know, how we treat people, the kind of person you are, your nature, your character, who you really are. Okay. In your nature, your attributes, who you really are. And, you know, the kind of person that you are. And in faith, you know, he's basically talking your faith to God. Okay. And then he says about purity and holy living. Okay. This is specifically very important for Timothy, especially important for Timothy, even as he's fostering the church at Ephesus, because, you know, Ephesus was known for immorality because of the, of the, of the goddess they worshiped Dina. You know, this, this great temple had great many prostitutes. There was immoral sex that was going on. And this immoral sex was one way, way, way that means that people used to indulge in, you know, to please the goddess Dina, to seek her prosperity. So, and also we know that sex and sexuality was insulted throughout, you know, the Greek or Roman world as well. So in the context of the church, you know, Paul is telling as a pastor, as a spiritual leader, Timothy, you need to model purity, both in conduct with young women, which he goes on to talk in First Timothy chapter five was two, and in his thought life, you know, and we see that purity is not just outward issue, but it's a heart issue. Okay. It's a heart issue which is translated in an outward living because Jesus in Matthew chapter five was 28. You know, he says a man is already committed adultery when he looks lustfully at a woman. He doesn't have to commit the act, but just in his heart, in his eyes, in his mind, he's already committed adultery if he looks lustfully at a woman. So here, you know, he's talking about modeling or being pure and holy living. So as good ministers, you know, we need to model godliness in every area of our life, even in the area of purity and holiness and living a life that is honoring in God's sight. Okay. We'll stop here. We'll continue with verse 13 in the next class. Anyone has any questions? Any questions, any doubts? No. Okay. Thank you all for joining class. Have a blessed weekend or refreshing weekend and see you all on Tuesday.