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Good morning.

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Take your Bibles, if you will, and open them to 1 Timothy chapter 6.

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1 Timothy chapter 6

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All right.

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We'll start with a word of prayer and then we'll get into our class.

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Our gracious Father in heaven, we come before you grateful for the day that you blessed us
with, for the life that we have and the opportunities that we have to serve you.

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Lord, we are mindful of all of your many blessings, all of the gifts that you give in this
life, in the physical world that we live in and the tender mercy that you have granted to

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this world and this universe and

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our existence in it.

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Lord, we pray that you will continue to bless those within this congregation.

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We pray that you be with those who are struggling because of illness and we pray that they
might be able to become fully recovered from the ailments that they deal with.

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We are also mindful of those who deal with chronic illness.

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We pray that you give them the endurance and the strength to go through the difficult days
that they have and the ability to

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maintain their perspective and their outlook uh on eternity.

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Lord, we pray that you be with those who are struggling spiritually.

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We pray that you will give them the heart and the mind to open your word, to study your
will, that they might get their focus and attention back on eternity.

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Lord, we pray that you be with those who are away from us traveling.

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We pray that you bring them back safely.

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We pray also for missionaries throughout the world that they might have boldness to speak,
that they might be ready and prepared and have the support that they need to be able to do

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the work and uh reach the souls that are around them.

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Lord, we pray for this congregation and its work in evangelism.

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We pray that we might have open hearts and open minds that we might speak to them to reach
the lost to help this community grow closer to you.

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Lord, we ask that you forgive us when we sin and fall short of your glory.

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All this we pray and ask in Jesus' name, amen.

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Paul writes in 1 Timothy chapter 6, Let as many bond-servants as are under the yoke count
their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be

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blasphemed.

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As Paul leads into this last kind of section as it's broken up in our English Bibles, he

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has dealt with the care for widows, he's dealt with the care for elders, he's dealt with
Timothy's focus on spiritual matters and the things that he needs to be doing and focusing

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on in his work with the church.

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But now he addresses bond servants.

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What is a bond servant?

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This would be usually a person who has become a slave due to debt.

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uh This is someone who by reason of inability to pay for debts has instead enslaved
themselves to pay the debt.

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They have taken on the role of a slave or a servant.

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because they owed a debt they could not pay.

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That's why Paul often refers to himself as a bondservant of Christ, because he owed a debt
he could not pay.

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What was that debt?

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All right?

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Sin, salvation.

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All right?

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The debt that was paid by the sacrifice of Christ was one that could never have been paid
by Paul himself or any of us.

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Okay?

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So Paul teaches us that we are all bond servants of Jesus Christ.

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Now, he's dealing with bond servants in this context in the physical and financial
scenario.

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This is someone who has become enslaved to a master because they owed a debt they could
not pay.

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But he is addressing specifically bond servants who are Christians.

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He says, let as many bond servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of
all honor.

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A couple of things to notice here, first and foremost.

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Number one is the situation that these bond servants find themselves in, one that is easy
or pleasant.

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No.

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How does Paul describe their burden or their situation?

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All right, being under a yoke.

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What's the picture there?

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All right, is, Paul's using the picture of an ox or an animal, a beast of burden that has
a yoke put upon them to pull something, to do some form of work.

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Okay, Paul says you've got a yoke on you for the purpose of doing your master's work.

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But.

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Let's just carry a connection over here.

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When Jesus said to those who were listening to Him, come unto me all ye that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

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What did He describe as the rest that He would grant us?

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What's the rest of the verse?

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All right.

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For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

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Jesus promised us that if we were heavily laden, if we were those who were in need of
help, we needed to exchange the yoke that we had, that was the one which we bore

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of our debts that we couldn't pay and exchange that yoke for His.

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He didn't say, hey, let me take all the yoke and all the burdens off of you because you
never have to worry about anything again.

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You're done with this whole labor thing.

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That's not what Jesus said.

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Jesus said, you currently have a burden that is crushing you that you cannot bear.

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Allow me to replace it with a burden which is light.

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but it's still a burden.

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Those who imagine that Christianity is freedom from all burdens.

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have no understanding of the doctrine of Christ.

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They have no understanding of what Jesus came to deliver or to do.

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Did Jesus have a burden?

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What was His burden?

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All right, sin of the world.

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His burden was to give up eternity to come take on flesh, to live as a man, to die on a
cross, to establish salvation and the church so that we might be saved.

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Now, if Jesus, the one who we serve, has a burden, why would we expect we don't?

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Too many times Christians imagine that Christianity is a free ride to a permanent
inheritance.

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And it's not.

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salvation is described, Romans uh chapter 3 verse 24, as a free gift of God, and it
absolutely is.

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Because you couldn't ever have earned it.

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You cannot merit it.

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There is nothing you can do that would cause God to owe it to you, but over in Ephesians
chapter 2, where Paul emphasizes that we are saved by grace, that it is a gift from God,

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he then describes the fact that God is creating in Christians His workmanship.

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He saved you so that you could become a worker.

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He works in you so that you can become a diligent servant.

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And every single picture of every single faithful righteous person in all of scripture,
they're diligent workers.

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They all have different tasks, they all have different roles, they find themselves in
different scenarios, but all of them are diligent workers.

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That's what God's looking for.

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So, as we bring this back, He is talking to those who are in a physical circumstance that
they would probably be happy to trade.

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If someone came along and said, hey,

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I will trade you my freedom for your bond servant position.

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They would go, yes, I think I'll accept that.

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But Paul reminds these Christians, and specifically reminds Timothy to teach these
Christians that their role is not in subordination, their role is not rebellion against

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those who are their masters, their role is not the upheaval and the overthrowing of the
bonds and the chains and the bearing, the yokes that they have.

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What does Paul say they are to do toward their masters?

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All right?

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He says, they are to be those who count their own masters as worthy of all honor.

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Paul makes it clear that these individuals in their plight in life, which he recognizes,
but just by calling them bond servants, he recognizes the difficulties they face.

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He says, you react, you relate to your masters as those who are worthy of all honor.

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Now, in order to do this, notice, in order to understand this,

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you have to keep the context.

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Just because we jumped into chapter 6 doesn't mean we just kick the context from chapter 5
away.

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How many times in chapter 5 have we used the word honor?

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multiple.

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If you go through and look, you have verse 3 of chapter 5, honor widows, who are really
widows.

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If you carry on down, you've got verse 17, where elders are worthy of double honor.

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As you continue through the text, you're going to find even more instances of this idea of
honor.

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Question in every one of those instances what type of honor is being discussed

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monetary honor.

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The honor that God was discussing when He told the Old Testament Israelites, honor your
father and your mother and it shall be well with you that you may dwell long on the earth.

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Jesus applied that directly to monetary support.

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Now, here you have an example of Paul going honor widows, honor elders, bond servants,
honor your masters.

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Why are they slaves?

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because they owed a debt.

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And Paul is making it clear, you do not back out of that debt.

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You owe them something.

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And he tells them, because it wrapped up in this honor is yes, the monetary, but it's also
the respect.

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It's also the recognition they have done something for you.

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You now owe something back to them.

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With the widows, what type of widows were worthy of that honor?

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All right, ones who didn't have family.

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Alright, they had spent their lives up to that point serving the church.

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And Paul says due to the fact that they have lived this sort of life serving the church,
the church owes them this honor.

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Now, he set qualifications on it, right?

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He said they have to be 60 years old, they have to be in this type of situation, they have
to be those who don't have family who should be taking care of this instead.

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What about elders?

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When he talked about those who are worthy of double honor, what did he qualify this
discussion as?

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Those who are worthy of double honor are those who've done what?

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those who have ruled well.

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They have established uh a consistency and a life of working on behalf of the Church, and
Paul says the Church owes them something.

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Go over to chapter six and he reminds the bond servants that you owe your master
something.

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They did something for you.

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What did the master do for the servant before the person became a bond servant?

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Alright, they helped them out financially.

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There was a requirement under the Jewish culture, now I understand we're dealing with
beyond the Jewish culture, but I'm going to use the Jewish culture as a reference point.

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There was a requirement amongst the Israelites that if an individual was poor and was
destitute or was in need of help,

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and they asked to borrow money from their fellow Israelite, God says you can't refuse
them.

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What else did he also say?

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Not only can you not refuse them, you can't charge them what?

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Interest.

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Because they're already in debt, they're already unable to pay, they're already in a state
of being destitute, you can't charge them interest for the money.

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Let's say for instance you have an Israelite who ah say they have a plot of land, they've
planted their crops, they used all the money they had to buy what they needed to plant the

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crops, then a famine begins and a drought begins.

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They lose their entire crop.

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Now the next season comes.

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They somehow managed to get through that season.

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They're still alive.

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They're still there in the land.

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Next season comes.

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They have no money to buy what they need to plant the next crop and they had no harvest.

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Therefore they have no seeds.

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So they come to one who's well off, who survived and managed to have the abundance
necessary to get through the famine and still be doing well, and they say, need the seed

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in order to plant.

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Or we're going to starve to death.

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And so they borrow the money from the wealthy individual and say, uh we need the seed.

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He says, fine, here's the money to buy the seed, go plant.

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And the second year.

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a bunch of uh critters come in and they eat up all the field.

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Now they have a second year with no harvest.

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But what do they also have now?

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A debt.

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Now, God established in the Israelite law a forgiving of debts on the seventh year, the
Sabbath year, and on the year of Jubilee there was a forgiving of debts that was part of

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the Israelite law.

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Did that exist for...

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uh the Gentiles and the Romans and the church in Ephesus and all the people who grew up
under the Ephesian way of life?

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No.

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So here sometimes you would have individuals

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both in the Israelite situation and in the Gentile situation where because of
circumstances, not because they were lazy, not because they wouldn't work, not because of

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other circumstances within their control, but because of circumstances beyond their
control, they have realized, you know what, kind of like the prodigal son, even the

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servants in that guy's house are better off than I am.

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Here I am.

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the prodigal son found himself realizing that he was slopping the hogs and he was starving
to death to the degree he was desirous to eat what the hogs were eating.

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And realizing his situation, he realized that the servants in his father's house had it
better than he has.

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So he determines, I'm going to go back to my father and I'm going to say, you know what?

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I owe you a debt.

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Just make me one of your servants.

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And I'll work off the debt.

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Now.

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there would be times in the life of individuals in that day and time where they would look
at their situation and they would look at their debts and they would go, there's no way

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I'm ever paying this.

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So they would sell themselves into servitude to a master who they owed because the
situation as a bond servant was better than the situation as a free person starving to

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death.

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But as they find themselves potentially in a better situation than they would have been
had they not been a bond servant, do you often still find times where people begin to have

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animosity at their situation and anger towards the one who is their master because of
their situation?

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Yes.

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And Paul says, not as a Christian.

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No, as a Christian, he says, you need to count your own masters as worthy of all honor.

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What was the reason?

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All right, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed.

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Paul says you are a representative of Christ.

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You are a representative of God.

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And if you do not honor your master, if you do not live in such a way as you bring the
benefit of your work and your labor

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to him, then you are creating an opportunity for God to be blasphemed by this individual.

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He will say, look at you, you claim to be a Christian, you claim to be one who's following
this Savior of yours, yet you don't even do your work.

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How could that be?

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Now.

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Name a servant who did exactly what Paul's talking about in the Old Testament.

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There are a number of options.

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Just pick one or two or a few.

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Joseph, under the service of who?

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Potiphar.

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Potiphar made it clear, Joseph made it clear, the text made it clear that

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Potiphar didn't even know what he had in his house anymore.

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He just knew it was in Joseph's hand and therefore it was in good hands.

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Okay?

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Who else?

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Alright, David, while he was tending sheep, though he was a shepherd for his father, so he
was a son, not a servant per se, but you could certainly use David as an example as he

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served Saul in his army, as he became the captain of the army.

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Everything he did was to Saul's benefit, not to his detriment, yet Saul actually
mistreated David because David's popularity grew.

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Alright, so Joseph, David, who else?

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00:23:44,972 --> 00:23:46,062
Daniel.

214
00:23:46,323 --> 00:23:50,084
Who did Daniel serve as a servant, as a slave?

215
00:23:51,045 --> 00:23:52,305
Nebuchadnezzar.

216
00:23:52,305 --> 00:23:59,769
By the way, you can add into that Azari, Hanani, and Mishael because it wasn't just Daniel
who excelled in his service.

217
00:23:59,769 --> 00:24:10,973
These, those three individuals were uh escalated all the way up to the level of being
governors because of their service, because of their faithfulness.

218
00:24:11,322 --> 00:24:12,574
How about another one?

219
00:24:13,858 --> 00:24:16,231
go even further into the history of Israel.

220
00:24:17,838 --> 00:24:23,121
All right, well, Moses, he became a servant of who?

221
00:24:24,142 --> 00:24:25,143
His father-in-law.

222
00:24:25,143 --> 00:24:28,185
He was the one who tended his father-in-law's sheep.

223
00:24:28,185 --> 00:24:31,967
When he arrived in uh Midian, what did he have?

224
00:24:32,188 --> 00:24:34,628
By way of possessions, wealth, money?

225
00:24:35,730 --> 00:24:36,140
Nothing.

226
00:24:36,140 --> 00:24:38,412
Okay.

227
00:24:39,012 --> 00:24:43,795
So, Moses, when he's out tending sheep, he's not tending his sheep.

228
00:24:43,976 --> 00:24:45,707
He's been with his father-in-law for 40 years.

229
00:24:45,707 --> 00:24:47,500
He still is not tending

230
00:24:47,500 --> 00:24:48,071
his sheep.

231
00:24:48,071 --> 00:24:49,361
He's sending his father-in-law sheep.

232
00:24:49,361 --> 00:24:51,192
Okay?

233
00:24:51,413 --> 00:24:53,054
How about Nehemiah?

234
00:24:53,795 --> 00:24:56,137
Nehemiah is a cup bearer to the king.

235
00:24:56,137 --> 00:25:00,880
Nehemiah can't even go to Jerusalem unless the king sends him.

236
00:25:01,681 --> 00:25:08,246
And yet Nehemiah is one who lives every single day keeping the king alive.

237
00:25:11,146 --> 00:25:25,878
All of these examples from the Old Testament are examples of individuals who have a
situation similar to, if not identical to, these Christians in that they're bond servants

238
00:25:25,878 --> 00:25:27,058
for a master.

239
00:25:27,719 --> 00:25:36,906
And Paul is letting them know as Christians, you do what is in your master's best
interests.

240
00:25:37,247 --> 00:25:41,004
You operate so as to bring your master

241
00:25:41,004 --> 00:25:43,725
the benefit of your labor.

242
00:25:45,396 --> 00:25:48,807
you provide for his needs.

243
00:25:48,807 --> 00:25:53,069
That's what the word honor carries out in this context.

244
00:25:53,069 --> 00:26:04,934
He says he is worthy of all honor so that the name of God and his doctrine may not be
blasphemed and those who have believing masters let them not despise them because they are

245
00:26:04,934 --> 00:26:06,154
brethren.

246
00:26:06,635 --> 00:26:15,348
Paul says you as a bond servant may find yourself in the situation where you're a
Christian and your master's a Christian.

247
00:26:15,916 --> 00:26:22,208
He says, don't you begin to despise the one who is a master because he's a Christian.

248
00:26:22,769 --> 00:26:25,550
Rather, he says, treat him as a brother.

249
00:26:26,130 --> 00:26:33,773
You are to be those who have even greater honor and respect and a greater relationship
with one who is a Christian.

250
00:26:33,773 --> 00:26:40,696
He says, but rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved.

251
00:26:41,517 --> 00:26:45,602
He says, you by your service

252
00:26:45,802 --> 00:26:56,669
and by the financial benefit that you bring to your master are actually bringing financial
benefits to someone who is a Christian.

253
00:26:57,610 --> 00:27:03,873
So you ought to even more so not despise them, but work for them.

254
00:27:04,734 --> 00:27:13,720
Because the benefit is to the church and to the believers and to those who are part of the
body of Christ.

255
00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:15,425
He then says,

256
00:27:15,425 --> 00:27:20,768
to Timothy teach and exhort these things.

257
00:27:22,130 --> 00:27:25,852
Paul is telling Timothy, you're gonna have to get up and preach this.

258
00:27:26,833 --> 00:27:28,974
This is not gonna come natural.

259
00:27:29,175 --> 00:27:31,916
This is not the disposition of culture.

260
00:27:32,097 --> 00:27:37,120
This is not what the people around you and around those bond servants are going to tell
them.

261
00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:39,952
They're going to say, hey, you gotta get out from under that master.

262
00:27:39,952 --> 00:27:41,794
You gotta focus on yourself.

263
00:27:41,794 --> 00:27:45,206
You gotta get ahead or you're gonna be stuck as a bond servant forever.

264
00:27:45,206 --> 00:27:47,648
Don't you want to be a bond servant forever?

265
00:27:48,950 --> 00:27:52,772
The world will tell them you need to leave the situation.

266
00:27:53,694 --> 00:27:57,937
Paul says you need to work to your master's benefit.

267
00:27:59,019 --> 00:28:12,170
Now, as you examine that, what New Testament example do we have of a bond servant in this
scenario?

268
00:28:15,264 --> 00:28:16,597
Onesimus.

269
00:28:16,597 --> 00:28:18,780
Alright, turn over to the book of Philemon.

270
00:28:30,872 --> 00:28:46,246
Book of Philemon, Paul writes, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
to Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, to the beloved Apophia, uh our kippis,

271
00:28:46,246 --> 00:28:49,988
our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house.

272
00:28:49,988 --> 00:28:55,009
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

273
00:28:55,009 --> 00:28:58,902
I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers.

274
00:28:58,902 --> 00:29:09,807
hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the
saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgement of

275
00:29:09,807 --> 00:29:13,889
every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

276
00:29:13,889 --> 00:29:22,873
For we have great joy and consolation in your love because the hearts of the saints have
been refreshed by you, brother.

277
00:29:22,954 --> 00:29:24,066
Therefore,

278
00:29:24,066 --> 00:29:38,680
Though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, yet for love's sake
I rather appeal to you, being such a one as Paul the Aged, and now also a prisoner of

279
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:40,110
Jesus Christ.

280
00:29:40,310 --> 00:29:54,234
I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was
unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me."

281
00:29:54,484 --> 00:29:56,895
I am sending him back.

282
00:29:56,895 --> 00:30:10,599
You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, whom I wish to keep with me, that on
your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel.

283
00:30:10,599 --> 00:30:20,141
But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by
compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.

284
00:30:20,162 --> 00:30:21,538
For perhaps

285
00:30:21,538 --> 00:30:27,763
He departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive Him forever.

286
00:30:27,783 --> 00:30:41,694
No longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how
much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

287
00:30:42,335 --> 00:30:47,599
If then you count me as a partner, receive Him as you would me.

288
00:30:47,599 --> 00:30:51,118
But if He has wronged you or owes anything,

289
00:30:51,118 --> 00:30:53,539
put that on my account.

290
00:30:53,819 --> 00:30:57,140
I, Paul, am writing with my own hand.

291
00:30:57,140 --> 00:31:12,846
I will repay, not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides." Now Paul,
as he is writing, he is getting ready with this letter to send back who.

292
00:31:15,498 --> 00:31:16,742
Onesimus.

293
00:31:17,308 --> 00:31:19,698
He's sending him back to hoop.

294
00:31:21,208 --> 00:31:22,599
to Philemon.

295
00:31:22,839 --> 00:31:25,321
Philemon is one who is a master.

296
00:31:25,321 --> 00:31:28,243
Philemon is also one who is a Christian.

297
00:31:28,424 --> 00:31:38,030
Philemon is also one, if you look at, notice the text there in the beginning, who was
using his own house for the assembly of the church.

298
00:31:38,932 --> 00:31:43,154
He is also one who is benefiting Christians.

299
00:31:44,075 --> 00:31:47,968
But he's a master, and Onesimus is his servant.

300
00:31:50,508 --> 00:31:56,766
Do we know all the circumstances around how Onesimus ended up connected to Paul?

301
00:31:58,400 --> 00:31:59,250
No.

302
00:31:59,711 --> 00:32:17,944
But we know from what Paul says that as Paul was in Rome, Onesimus had somehow left,
departed from, escaped from the house of Philemon and has through some circumstance found

303
00:32:17,944 --> 00:32:26,730
himself in connection with Paul and as a result of being connected to Paul in Rome, he's
been converted.

304
00:32:27,916 --> 00:32:29,647
The text is quite clear.

305
00:32:29,647 --> 00:32:34,010
When Onesimus left the house of Philemon, he was not a Christian.

306
00:32:34,010 --> 00:32:37,772
Now, as he's being sent back by Paul, he is.

307
00:32:39,013 --> 00:32:42,235
So he left a slave and a non-believer.

308
00:32:42,235 --> 00:32:46,698
He's returning a slave, a believer, and a brother.

309
00:32:48,632 --> 00:32:59,167
Paul is telling Philemon, when he comes back to you, you don't accept him as a slave who's
been returned in chains.

310
00:33:00,448 --> 00:33:03,870
You accept him as if it's me walking in the door.

311
00:33:05,964 --> 00:33:08,105
But what else does Paul ask for?

312
00:33:10,326 --> 00:33:14,760
Not just that Philemon accept Onesimus, but he does what?

313
00:33:16,546 --> 00:33:17,507
All right?

314
00:33:18,031 --> 00:33:20,747
He says, if he owes you anything.

315
00:33:22,615 --> 00:33:23,526
pay it.

316
00:33:25,068 --> 00:33:31,574
Now, he also asks Philemon to do what with Onesimus?

317
00:33:39,663 --> 00:33:42,876
I hear a lot of whispers, but I'm only your dancer.

318
00:33:45,614 --> 00:33:46,995
send him back.

319
00:33:48,616 --> 00:33:59,364
Paul is making it clear, Onesimus is valuable to me in my work, but I won't demand this of
you.

320
00:34:00,246 --> 00:34:02,307
I will rather ask this of you.

321
00:34:02,307 --> 00:34:11,604
So, I'm sending Onesimus to you with hope that you will send him back to me because he's
profitable for my ministry.

322
00:34:12,430 --> 00:34:28,485
Paul is trying to get Philemon to take his bond servant, who is his servant, who should be
benefiting his work, his labor, and instead send that bond servant to Paul to benefit

323
00:34:28,485 --> 00:34:29,786
Paul's labor.

324
00:34:31,426 --> 00:34:33,948
But he says, won't have you do it by compulsion.

325
00:34:33,948 --> 00:34:36,249
I won't have you do it because I demand it of you.

326
00:34:36,249 --> 00:34:37,826
He makes it clear, I could.

327
00:34:37,826 --> 00:34:40,531
I could command you to do this.

328
00:34:40,832 --> 00:34:42,132
But I won't.

329
00:34:42,333 --> 00:34:46,315
I want you to do it voluntarily, not by compulsion.

330
00:34:46,315 --> 00:34:51,926
Then he goes to the debt and he says, if he owes you anything because, you know.

331
00:34:51,926 --> 00:34:53,446
Here's a business person.

332
00:34:53,446 --> 00:35:01,448
One of his assets finally comes back through the door that's been missing, and now he
goes, all right, how do I get this asset to finally start paying for itself?

333
00:35:03,809 --> 00:35:07,810
In the modern world, you would have written that one off as a bad debt.

334
00:35:09,051 --> 00:35:12,051
At least I got a tax write-off off of him escaping.

335
00:35:13,232 --> 00:35:14,322
But now he's back.

336
00:35:14,322 --> 00:35:21,334
All right, get back to work, Paul says, but if he owes you anything, because by the way,
he still had a debt, right?

337
00:35:22,944 --> 00:35:30,076
And now he has most likely a further debt given the fact that he has departed and escaped
and now has returned.

338
00:35:31,896 --> 00:35:36,829
Paul says, if he owes you anything, you put it on my account and I will repay it.

339
00:35:37,109 --> 00:35:40,271
But I love the way Paul addresses the situation.

340
00:35:40,271 --> 00:35:51,118
He says, he makes it clear, I will repay it, though it might remind you, you owe me your
very self.

341
00:35:52,738 --> 00:35:59,284
Paul is pointing out that without his work, Philemon wouldn't be a Christian.

342
00:36:00,426 --> 00:36:13,598
And Paul is saying, if you owe me your very soul by bringing you the gospel, what's
onesimus by comparison in the financial value that he can bring you?

343
00:36:14,239 --> 00:36:15,580
But I'll pay.

344
00:36:15,841 --> 00:36:17,612
I'll pay for the debt.

345
00:36:18,251 --> 00:36:25,244
You're not gonna say that I was unwilling to do that, but I might remind you what you owe
me.

346
00:36:26,525 --> 00:36:37,990
So, here's a scenario where Onesimus was once an unprofitable servant, he's escaped from
his master.

347
00:36:38,250 --> 00:36:47,468
Now as a result of the fact that Paul taught his individuals and the people he was around,
the same thing he's telling Timothy to teach.

348
00:36:47,468 --> 00:36:56,602
The bond servants in his company, he says, I'm sending Onesimus back and Onesimus is going
back not in chains, but freely.

349
00:36:57,162 --> 00:37:05,926
He's willing to go back to his master because he now understands the sin and the error of
his way by departing from his master.

350
00:37:06,526 --> 00:37:16,370
He knows he owes Philemon something in the physical world and that to fail to deliver on
that debt is to

351
00:37:16,396 --> 00:37:19,067
cause God to be blasphemed.

352
00:37:19,828 --> 00:37:36,287
And yet, as a result, Paul taught the people in his uh sphere of influence the same thing
he's telling Timothy to teach the Ephesian brethren, that bond servants are to count their

353
00:37:36,287 --> 00:37:39,999
masters as worthy of all honor.

354
00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:44,582
Now verse three he says, if anyone teaches otherwise,

355
00:37:46,558 --> 00:37:58,303
you could probably, knowing the way Paul writes, wrap up the discussion about doctrine,
the discussion about widows, the discussion about elders, the discussion about bond

356
00:37:58,303 --> 00:38:11,178
servants, and wrap all of that up into this statement as Paul concludes it and says, if
anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even to the words of our

357
00:38:11,178 --> 00:38:16,066
Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness,

358
00:38:16,066 --> 00:38:29,838
He is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from
which come envy, strife, revilings, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men, of corrupt

359
00:38:29,838 --> 00:38:32,980
minds, and destitute of the truth.

360
00:38:33,241 --> 00:38:39,786
Paul does not mince words when he describes false teachers.

361
00:38:41,368 --> 00:38:57,705
Paul rather says, if you find someone who doesn't agree with these things, you find
someone who opposes the teaching of the truth instead of profane and vain babblings.

362
00:38:57,705 --> 00:39:01,386
He says, let me tell you what that person is.

363
00:39:01,967 --> 00:39:08,489
You find someone who opposes the help of the helping of widows who are widows indeed.

364
00:39:08,489 --> 00:39:10,670
Let me tell you what that person is.

365
00:39:11,766 --> 00:39:19,778
You find someone who opposes giving honor to an elder who has labored on behalf of the
church.

366
00:39:19,778 --> 00:39:21,802
He says, me tell you what that person is.

367
00:39:23,392 --> 00:39:30,692
You find someone who opposes bond servants paying and serving their masters faithfully?

368
00:39:30,692 --> 00:39:32,754
Let me tell you what that person is.

369
00:39:32,915 --> 00:39:38,892
He says that is an individual who does not consent to wholesome words.

370
00:39:40,536 --> 00:39:43,081
What is the idea of wholesome?

371
00:39:49,398 --> 00:39:55,101
You know, we talk about and see in branding, this is a whole wheat product.

372
00:39:55,542 --> 00:39:58,554
This is something which is good.

373
00:39:58,554 --> 00:40:04,008
This is, it carries with it all the aspects of its original thing.

374
00:40:04,008 --> 00:40:09,392
It's that which is health giving is the idea of wholesome.

375
00:40:09,392 --> 00:40:15,635
These are words which bring health to someone spiritually.

376
00:40:16,056 --> 00:40:19,418
These are the things that produce

377
00:40:19,438 --> 00:40:22,999
good in a person's life.

378
00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:37,986
He says if someone will not consent to things that are good for people, words that benefit
people, he says if they won't consent to those, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ

379
00:40:37,986 --> 00:40:40,947
and to the doctrine which accords with godliness.

380
00:40:41,307 --> 00:40:48,874
He says these matters that we've been discussing, these matters that I'm telling you to
teach and to exhort,

381
00:40:48,874 --> 00:40:53,941
are matters that deal with being like God.

382
00:40:55,724 --> 00:41:03,220
and the teaching and the doctrine of Christ, which enables us to be like God.

383
00:41:03,481 --> 00:41:11,767
He says the number one, the person who opposes this, first problem they have, they're
proud.

384
00:41:12,688 --> 00:41:16,791
Their pride is a problem.

385
00:41:17,592 --> 00:41:24,430
This lack of willingness to consent to these words, their lack of willingness

386
00:41:24,430 --> 00:41:26,431
to obey this teaching.

387
00:41:26,431 --> 00:41:37,294
Paul says, Timothy, as you are teaching this and someone stands up, as it were,
metaphorically or physically, and begins opposing the doctrine that you're teaching, he

388
00:41:37,294 --> 00:41:41,515
said, you check and you're gonna find pride is a problem in their life.

389
00:41:42,856 --> 00:41:49,958
That their primary motivation is the fact that they are self-interested.

390
00:41:52,248 --> 00:41:56,178
But he further says, and they're ignorant.

391
00:41:57,890 --> 00:42:00,651
He doesn't just say that they're unlearned.

392
00:42:01,071 --> 00:42:05,412
He says they know nothing.

393
00:42:06,492 --> 00:42:10,714
He didn't say they need a little further education.

394
00:42:10,714 --> 00:42:16,715
No, he said they are at zero on their knowledge of God.

395
00:42:17,495 --> 00:42:23,497
They know nothing, but rather, he says, I'll tell you what they will be.

396
00:42:24,297 --> 00:42:27,558
They're going to be obsessed with disputes

397
00:42:27,724 --> 00:42:29,995
and with arguments over words.

398
00:42:31,014 --> 00:42:41,402
He says, you're going to find those individuals coming to you with some argument on some
textual basis where they can interpret a text so as to say they don't have to do it.

399
00:42:42,623 --> 00:42:47,705
Isn't that what the Pharisees did with the commandment to honor their father and their
mother?

400
00:42:48,746 --> 00:42:55,694
They said, well, hold on now, if someone dedicates everything that they have to the Lord,

401
00:42:55,694 --> 00:42:59,634
Well, you can't give what belongs to the Lord to your parents.

402
00:43:00,314 --> 00:43:07,234
They make an argument from the text of Scripture that says this belongs to God, you give
it to somebody else and you're going to sin.

403
00:43:07,234 --> 00:43:09,030
So you can't honor your parents.

404
00:43:10,690 --> 00:43:20,302
Paul is saying that the life and the actions of the Pharisees is being lived out in the
lives of Christians who oppose these things.

405
00:43:22,050 --> 00:43:29,274
because they're turning the words against the point of God's doctrine.

406
00:43:29,414 --> 00:43:42,581
He says, this person is proud, this person knows nothing, this person is obsessed with
disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil

407
00:43:42,581 --> 00:43:44,142
suspicions.

408
00:43:45,003 --> 00:43:49,185
Paul says, you want to infect the congregation?

409
00:43:49,185 --> 00:43:51,506
You let these guys get up and talk.

410
00:43:52,534 --> 00:44:03,837
You want to ruin the happy state of brothers working together in unity even though one of
them is a bond servant and one of them is a master, one of them is an elder who's

411
00:44:03,837 --> 00:44:12,229
receiving double honor, and one of them is an elder only receiving single honor, and
here's a widow who's being supported, and here's a widow who's younger who needs to go

412
00:44:12,229 --> 00:44:14,140
remarry and isn't being supported.

413
00:44:14,140 --> 00:44:20,161
He says you can have all of that in harmony or you can let these guys get up and talk.

414
00:44:20,482 --> 00:44:22,802
But if you let these guys get up and talk,

415
00:44:23,244 --> 00:44:24,414
You can't.

416
00:44:25,176 --> 00:44:29,419
Because what's going to come from that is going to be envy.

417
00:44:30,180 --> 00:44:36,584
This group over here is going to start looking at that group over there and going, well,
why should we cooperate with them?

418
00:44:37,966 --> 00:44:39,287
After all, I'm a slave.

419
00:44:39,287 --> 00:44:40,228
They're a free person.

420
00:44:40,228 --> 00:44:41,479
They can do whatever they want.

421
00:44:41,479 --> 00:44:43,490
I'm forced to do whatever they say.

422
00:44:46,306 --> 00:44:48,627
Paul says you don't let those people talk.

423
00:44:49,449 --> 00:44:59,977
You don't allow those people to teach because all they'll do is destroy everything that
godliness builds up.

424
00:45:01,018 --> 00:45:02,740
All right, that's what we've got time for.

425
00:45:02,740 --> 00:45:03,040
Thank you.