 Okay, before we begin with someone open us in prayer, please. Yes, pray. Heavenly Father, thank you Jesus for this wonderful time. Thank you for this new morning. Lord, I pray as we're going to study your word, Lord, just help us. Lord, open our hearts. Lord, give your revelation. Lord, we will be able to understand your word in our proper villages. I give to our faculty also in your hand. Lord Jesus, give your protection, give your guidance, Lord, and in every area, Lord, that we are going to learn. Lord Jesus, and we will learn. We will apply in our life. Lord, help us in everything. Jesus, name I pray. Amen. Thank you. So today we're going to be doing first and second Timothy. Just share this. Okay, so first, second Timothy and Titus are all part of the ecclesiological epistles. So we talked about the different epistles that Paul wrote and the different focuses that he had in some of his epistles. So ecclesiological means that it's focused on the church itself. Ecclesia meaning church. And they're also called the pastoral epistles because they're written to these mentees that Paul had, right? They were mentored by Paul, Timothy and Titus. And so he is entrusted the oversight of these churches to Timothy and Titus and he's just giving them some instructions. Timothy and Titus were not pastors actually, right? They traveled with Paul, they ministered with him and helped in a lot of the new churches being established on those missionary journeys. So Paul is giving them some instructions about how the church should be run, about the different roles that are there in the church. The leadership in the church, the kind of qualifications that are needed of leaders. He's giving them instructions about doctrine, right? Holding on to the right doctrine and teaching, not becoming afraid in the face of persecution, which was something that was a reality at that time. And Paul himself was just out of prison and would again be in prison by the time he writes second Timothy. So all of that in taking into consideration all of that, he's writing certain instructions to them, knowing that he's passing on the leadership to these new leaders of the church. And so he's giving them his final instructions. So in that way, it's very, very important teaching, right? This is what he considered as the last things he wanted to pass on to them before his death, right? So we want to pay attention to what were the things that he was telling them to do as they led the church, as they oversaw the church. Okay, so if we read 1 Timothy 1, 1 to 2, it tells us who the author and the recipient was. So it says, Paul and Apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ, Jesus our hope. To Timothy my true son in the faith. Okay, so a lot of people dispute whether Paul is the actual author of these three epistles because it's written quite differently from all of the other epistles. The words that he uses, the kind of style of writing is quite different. So it's possible that Paul had a scribe like he did for all of his other epistles and it most likely may be Luke because at the end of 2 Timothy, Paul talks about Luke being the only one who is with him. So it's possible that Luke was writing on behalf of Paul. So Paul was giving him the content to write and Luke was using his own words to write it out. That is one possibility or the other possibilities that Paul himself wrote it but he wrote it quite differently from how he wrote the other epistles. But finally the content of it is from Paul who actually did the writing. It could be another scribe possibly Luke who wrote on behalf of him. So what do we know about Timothy? Let's just turn to Acts 16 verses 1 to 3 and if someone can read that for us. Acts 16, check, check, check. Acts 16 verse 1 to 3. Then he came to Derwe and Lishra and behold a certain disciple was there named Timothy. The son of a certain Jewish woman who believed but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lishra and Iconium. Paul wanted to him go on with him and he took him, circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that reason for they all knew that his father was Greek. Thank you. So Timothy here we know joined Paul on the second missionary journey. So it's possible that on the first missionary journey was when he heard the gospel and he came to faith and on the second missionary journey when Paul was coming back is when Paul takes him along on the journey because when we read here in Acts 16 he's already a disciple so he's already come to faith when Paul comes back on the second missionary journey. So these are some of the things they do after Timothy joins with Paul on the second missionary journey. They travel, we look at the map after this. So they travel to Macedonia, we keep going back to Macedonia. Paul has the vision of the Macedonian and he goes there. So Philippi, Thessalonica, Beria are all in Macedonia. So this is Paul, Timothy is involved in establishing the church in these places. From there Timothy goes back to Thessalonica and he is there for a while while Paul continues to travel around. Finally, Timothy again joins Paul in Corinth and so he is involved in establishing the church in Corinth as well. We don't know if Timothy then goes back. So you know at the end of every missionary journey Paul goes back to Jerusalem. He always returns to Jerusalem at the end of every missionary journey, goes back to his hometown in Antioch and then starts his next missionary journey because he was reporting to the church in Jerusalem and reporting to his home church. We don't know if Timothy joined him on that trip but we know that Timothy again joins him on the third missionary journey. He is with Paul when they are in Ephesus, so he's ministering with Paul at Ephesus. Then he goes again back to Macedonia and Achaea. Paul sends him ahead of his travel to Macedonia. Timothy prepares the way there and then travels back with Paul to Macedonia and ministers there. If we can just turn to Hebrews 1323 and someone can read from there for us. Hebrews 1323. Hebrews 1323. Know that our brother Timothy has been set free with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly. So from Hebrews 1323 we know that Timothy was later arrested and he was released from prison and according to tradition Timothy was later martyred for his faith. So he was either martyred during the reign of Nero which is when Paul was also in prison or he was martyred during the reign of Domitian which was towards the end of the first century. So that's the life of Timothy. So this is what we were talking about the second missionary journey. This is the fourth missionary journey that Paul goes on. So if we read 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus we see that there's a lot of record of Paul traveling which is not in Acts. So Acts we have the first, second and third missionary journey. But what is recorded in 1st and 2nd Timothy is not in Acts. So it is thought that after Paul's imprisonment in Rome which was at the end of Acts. Acts 28 ends with Paul being imprisoned in Rome. After that Paul is released and then he does a fourth missionary journey. So whatever we have here about where all he traveled to is based on these epistles and the names of places that Paul mentions in these epistles. So if we look here that he goes from Rome. He's released from prison after Acts 28 and then he travels to Crete. Here he leaves Titus in charge of the church and then from Crete he travels on to Ephesus. This is where Timothy is left in charge of the church in Ephesus. From there he goes through Trois to Philippi. We know that he probably stopped there because he mentions to Timothy, please bring my quote from Trois. So he probably stopped there on the way and then goes on to Philippi. And this is where he writes 1st and 2nd Timothy and the letter to Titus. From here he continues to travel on and he's later imprisoned again in Rome. And this is for the second time where he writes 2nd Timothy from the prison in Rome. So like we talked about he writes the letter to kind of give Timothy some advice about how to oversee the church that he's in charge of. The date of writing is estimated to be around 62 to 64 AD. So we know like we talked about he was released from prison. He traveled to a couple of places that are mentioned in Timothy and Titus. He's arrested again and 2nd Timothy is where he's writing from his 2nd imprisonment. So after the 2nd imprisonment is where he is martyred. So we'll read a lot about that in 2nd Timothy itself. So some of the major things that we see in 1st Timothy, the theme is proper order in the church. So he's basically giving Timothy instructions about how the church is to be run, especially from the perspective of the leadership in the church. What kind of qualities should they have, all of those things. If we can read this key verse, someone can read 1st Timothy 3, 14 to 15. These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly. But if I'm delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the throat. Sorry, Warren, we were not able to hear you here. Was everyone online able to hear, Warren? Yes? Okay, okay. I think it just may have been our sound here. So I'll just also just read that for us 1st Timothy 3, 14 to 15. Although I hope to come to you soon, I'm writing you these instructions so that if I'm delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. So right here we see Paul's purpose of writing the letter. He himself mentions this. Before this, he also talks about a few different things and we'll see that in the outline. But this last part, he focuses on the church leadership itself. Some keywords doctrine. He uses the word good many times. And if you read through the book, you'll notice that he talks about faith, good conscience and love throughout the book. He keeps repeating these three words, faith, good conscience and love. And basically his encouragement to Timothy and the churches continue in faith, continue to do your work without having any kind of sense of guilt. Do your work in good conscience. And the final goal of that is loving God and loving his church. He addresses a lot of heresy that is coming into the church, which is why we see doctrine being mentioned a lot in the book. So there is wrong teaching that is coming into the church probably related to Gnosticism. And so he's correcting a lot of that through the book. Some unique features. It's one of the Bible's best resources on church organization. So for pastors, a very good book to read emphasizes right teaching, but very much so from a practical perspective rather than a doctrinal perspective. In comparison with other books, Colossians and 1st John also deal with Gnostic heresy, which is what 1st Timothy also does. 2nd Timothy and Titus, all these three books talk about the pastoral concerns for a church. And then 2nd Thessalonians 2, 2nd Timothy 3, 2nd Peter 2 and Jude along with 1st Timothy 4, one of apostasy. So what is apostasy? Changing your faith. Yeah, leaving the faith. So people within the church abandoning their faith. So here Timothy 1, Timothy 4 warns about people leaving the faith. And so he's telling Timothy to guard the faith and guard the doctrine of the church. So with that, we come to an outline of 1st Timothy. We start with a greeting at the beginning like he does in all his letters. And that's what we read. Paul, where it mentions Paul and Timothy as the author and recipient. The 2nd part is where he's dealing with legalistic teachers. So this is where we see that wrong teaching being addressed very strongly in the book. He's dealing with false doctrine that has come into the church, myths, endless genealogy. So these are some of the things he mentions, meaningless talk, people who are teaching the law, but they don't know, they don't know the law themselves. So they are just teaching out of their ignorance. And he says the real goal is love, which comes from a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith. So that is the main goal of all Christian teaching. Paul then shares about his own experience of God's mercy. And he says his own life is an example of God's mercy to the wicked. Because Paul himself is the worst of all sinners. And by his life and testimony, people can see how great the mercy of God is. He then, he does this three times in the book of Timothy, where he charges Timothy to continue the ministry, continue to be strong in the ministry. So let's just read that chapter 1 verses 18 to 19, the beginning of verse 19. 1 Timothy 1 verse 18 to the beginning of verse 19. This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophesies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith under good conscience. Thank you. So you see here that faith and good conscience he mentions here. And he goes back to what was prophesied over Timothy. So what was the calling that was placed upon him? What was the original thing that God himself had spoken over Timothy? And we'll see that repeated through the book. Then he goes into chapter 2. He begins with praying for all people, especially rulers and authorities. Then he goes into the spiritual oversight of the church. So this is what we were reading. That's where we read the purpose of the epistle, verse 14 and 15. So in this section, he talks about what are the qualifications of a bishop or an elder in the church? What are the qualifications of a deacon? In the middle is the purpose of the epistle and then the mystery of Christ's incarnation. So that is where our hope is in the incarnation of Christ himself. Then with chapter 4, he again goes back to the doctrine. So warning against legalism or legalistic teaching. And then his second charge to Timothy. Let's just read that. Chapter 4, verses 14. First Timothy chapter 4, verses 15 now. Okay. Neglect not the gift that was given to him by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Thank you. So here again we see that instruction where Paul to Timothy don't neglect the gift that was given to you through prophecy. And he says when the body of elders laid their hands on you. So every time he is saying this, he's talking about preaching and teaching. Right doctrine or preaching and teaching the scriptures. So that seems to be the gift that was given to Timothy. And so he keeps reminding him of that gift and that prophecy that was put upon him when he was sent into ministry. And then chapters 5 to 6 is the last part where he is talking about administration in the church. Okay. So this is where it's really focused on how do you lead and how do you do that work of organizing a church relating to people within the church, caring for widows, elders in the church. Then he gives some personal instructions to Timothy. He gives some instructions to slaves and masters. He talks about false teachers. So all this time he's been talking. He talked before about wrong doctrine, wrong teaching that had come into the church. Again, he goes back to this saying that these false teachers are actually after money. And so he warns again against false teaching. And then he ends with the final charge to Timothy. So let's just read that 6 11 to 21. Can I read sister? Yes, please go ahead. But you, O man of God, please these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness, fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life to which you also called and have confessed the good confession and the presence of many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontus Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ appearing, which he will manifest in his own time. He who is the blessed and only attended the king of kings and Lord of lords. Who alone has immortality dwelling in unapproachable light whom no man has seen or can see to which be honor and everlasting power. Okay, thank you sister. So it then closes with a few instructions to Timothy. But this is the third and final charge to Timothy. So what are some of the main things we saw here in the book? One is the charges to Timothy. So reminding him of the prophecies that people had spoken over him and the gifts that he had been given. So reminding him to teach and to continue in right teaching of scripture and right doctrine. The second is to have right functioning of the church. Okay, so in terms of the leadership of the church, the kinds of qualifications they should have all of those things. The third is to continue in faith, good conscience and in love. Okay, so those are the three main things in this book that Paul reminds Timothy about. So we'll move on to second Timothy before we go into the reason for writing. We'll just talk a little bit about some of the background for the book. I haven't put that on the slide. So Paul is released from prison at the end of Acts 28. He travels around for about three years and then goes back to prison in Rome. He's imprisoned for a second time. This imprisonment is thought either to be under Nero because Nero accuses Christians of having burned down the city. And so burned down the city of Rome and so a lot of Christians get persecuted during that time. So either it was because of that that he is arrested or the other reason could be someone named Alexander the Coppersmith. So if we can just turn to second Timothy 414, someone can read that for us. Alexander the Coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. So this is thought to be the other reason maybe that Alexander this person had got him arrested. And so he's now under Roman imprisonment because of Alexander the Coppersmith. So this imprisonment is quite different from his imprisonment in Acts 28. Do you all remember anything from that imprisonment in Acts 28? What do we know about that time? He's under house arrest, which means he can still have visitors coming to see him. He's still able to minister from there. He meets the Jewish leaders in Rome as soon as he arrives there and he shares the gospel with them. So it's not the typical kind of imprisonment where he's in a great deal of suffering or in chains or anything like that. But the second time of imprisonment is very different. So we look at a few verses that describe what this imprisonment was like. Chapter 4 verses 13. Oh, I think this is... Is it 413? I don't see it here. Okay, I think this verse may be wrong. But in this he talks about being chained. He's in chains. He's in a dungeon. He's being treated like a common criminal. He doesn't have access to people, so people are not able to go visit him as much. They can visit him, but it's not that same kind of freedom. And he's expecting very soon to be executed. So second Timothy, the kind of emotion that Paul is expressing in this is much more a feeling of loneliness, a sense of this is the end. So he talks a lot about being in chains, being in prison. But at the same time, he talks a lot about eternal life in Christ. So in the midst of this knowing that death is impending is going to happen soon. His hope is in eternal life in Jesus Christ. And so we see that life being used a lot in this book in second Timothy. So let's just... We know the author is Paul. This is written about three years after first Timothy. And some of the main things that we see here is why he's writing. So he talks about how he is suffering and he's encouraging Timothy to continue to be bold in the faith, not to lose hope. So he's saying, you persevere in serving God. And if it means that you should suffer like I'm suffering, don't lose hope. Don't lose faith. Continue to be true to the gospel. So that is his main... The main things he talks about in the book. He also asked Timothy to come visit him towards the end of the book. He asked Timothy to come quickly to visit him. So the theme, True Minister of Jesus Christ, basically focusing on suffering for the sake of Christ. And if we can read the key verse, I've put one of the key verses here, 3, 16 and 17. There's also chapter 4 verse 2. So if we can read those verses. Second Timothy 3, 16 and 17. And then Second Timothy 4, 2. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. And is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. So why is Paul saying this? If we go back to verse 14. He's encouraging Timothy, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of. Because you know those from whom you learned it. So encouraging him to not lose faith because of suffering. To continue to stay strong in the faith. And if someone can read chapter 4 verse 2. Chapter 4 verse 2. Preach the word. Be ready in season, out of season. Convince review with all our long sufferings and teaching. Okay. Here Paul is also talking about the end times. He's talking about people not anymore wanting to hear right teaching. And so he's telling Paul, don't give up on the truth. People may not want to hear it. But you stay faithful to the truth. And so he focuses a lot on the end times and on people turning away from what is true. And what is right. Some of the unique features. This is his final letter. Okay. It's very personal in the way he writes like a dying father to his son. This like we read has a very clear origin and purpose this letter. And although it's written much, much after Moses's time. So almost 1500 years after Moses's time. He mentions the names of the magicians who oppose Moses. When Moses is doing those miracles, there are magicians who come against him. And so Paul is saying like those magicians who came against Moses. There's false teachers who are coming against you now and coming against right teaching now. But you stay true to it because their wrong teaching will be exposed for what it is. Just like Moses's opponents were not able to match what Moses was doing. These wrong teachers will not be able to continue in their teaching. Compared with other books, these are all farewell discourses, John 14 to 16. Second Peter, Second Timothy. Like we talked about it deals with apostasy. First Timothy, Titus and Second Timothy are all concerned with discipleship of believers. And Second Peter and Revelation, it's Paul's final writing. Like Peter writes, Second Peter and John writes Revelation as their final teaching. Paul is writing this as his final teaching and the main focus is on God's Word. So we'll just quickly look at an outline of Second Timothy. It begins with, so like I said since he's writing it from prison, we'll see a lot of that encouragement to suffer, to persevere, coming through in this letter. Exhortation to faithfulness, to endurance, to sound doctrine, warning against apostasy, exhortation to faithfulness in Bible study and exhortation to faithfulness in ministry. So these are some of Paul's final instructions to Timothy, knowing that this is the end of his journey. But he shares all of this with Timothy to make sure that Timothy ends his ministry well as well. And then we see at the end, he ends with personal requests, warning about Alexander, some assurances and his closing benediction. So we'll just read a little bit from the last chapter of Second Timothy. We'll just read probably verse 1 to 8, just to give us a little summary of what this book talks about. So verses 1 to 8 of Second Timothy 4. I charge you, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Reach the Word, be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with long suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not end your second sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. And they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous church will give to me on that day. And not to me only, but also to all who have loved his appearing. Thank you, sister. So what are some key things you'll notice from these 8 verses? This is a really good summary of the book itself. What are some key things Paul wanted to leave with Timothy before his martyrdom from reading these verses? 2 Timothy 4, 1 to 8. To preach the word in season and out of season. To continue to preach the word and believing that this was Timothy's calling. Like we read about in 1 Timothy, continue to do what was prophesied over you by the elders, by the laying on of hands. So this was what Timothy had been entrusted in the ministry that had been entrusted to Timothy and Paul is encouraging him to be faithful to it. Okay, thank you. What other things does Paul say in these verses? To be watchful in all things. What's that, sorry? To be watchful in all things. To be watchful. Yeah. Sorry, can you repeat that? To be watchful in all things, to fulfilling the work of ministry. Yes, to continue to be watchful and continue the work that he was doing. What do you think were Paul's concerns from these eight verses? Sound doctrine will not be taught and they will changes to here according to their teaching years. Yes. So sound doctrine was definitely one of the concerns considering that there was so much wrong teaching coming in. Paul was not going to be around and he had entrusted all of this to Timothy. So we see in second Timothy, I think it's chapter two where he talks about passing on what has been taught to other people who will be faithful to hold on to the teaching. So recognizing that teaching was so key that he had passed on to Timothy and now it was Timothy's responsibility to pass that on to the church to guard the church against false teaching. What else? Just two more things. Sorry, yes, go ahead. That he will get the crown of righteousness. Sorry, could you repeat that? He will get the crown of righteousness. Yes, so Paul is pointing to his own life and testimony, his own ministry and testimony. And we'll see that in other parts of both first and second Timothy because he's distinguishing himself from the false teachers. He's saying look at the life that I've lived, the suffering, the persecution, all of that. That is evidence that I have continued to walk in faithfulness despite the suffering that came along with the gospel, with preaching the gospel. And so he's saying I've finished what God has entrusted to me. So look at my life and follow my example. So follow through even if you have to suffer till the end. Follow through with the ministry that has been entrusted to you. And both at the beginning of this section, verse one and verse eight, we'll see that focus on Christ who is the judge, right? It begins in verse one with Christ being the judge and ends with Christ being the judge. So he will judge those who are against him. He will judge the wicked. He will judge those who are teaching false doctrine to the church. And he will also reward those who remain faithful. So these are the main things that Paul focuses on in 2 Timothy on the final judgment and our faith in Christ, even in the midst of suffering because we know that what will happen for eternity is based on Christ's final judgment. So we'll close with that. Anyone wants to share anything before we close? Okay. So we'll continue from here. I will post that video. I'll post it tomorrow. And then I'll see you on Monday for our next class. So if you can watch the video before Monday's class, then we'll continue from there on Monday. Thank you all. Thank you, sister. Thank you.