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This short letter Paul penned to Timothy is poignant and urgent and gives a unique message to one Paul describes as his 'beloved son'. Although relevant to all believers, it was written as a personal letter to one man, Timothy, and begins by reminding Timothy of his relationship with the apostle Paul, and his calling. Paul encourages Timothy to follow the example he has set, warns him that he will encounter suffering, and urges him to get to Rome (from Ephesus) to complete the apostle's mission. Timothy needs the encouragement. He is under pressure from the spiritual battle faced in Ephesus. Remember Paul's warning to the Ephesian elders there, in Acts 20 at Miletus, when he said savage wolves would enter, not sparing the flock and, from the eldership itself, men would arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.

Reading : Romans 13:1-7

The Bible makes it plain that disciples of Christ do have a duty to the State. But how far does this duty extend? Does it mean that they are required by God to offer total and unquestioning obedience to their human overlords in all circumstances? If not, where is the line to be drawn?

Readings: Esther 9-10; Jonah 1; Hebrews 6-7

Our reading in Hebrews 5, yesterday, finished by drawing a distinction between milk and solid food, and suggesting that the reader should be progressing from the former to the latter. Clearly the author believed that the readers were capable of grasping the ‘meaty’ material being presented to them. And today’s chapters, must certainly fall into the category of ‘meaty material’.

The author was appealing to Jewish believers of the first century to recognize that Jesus had removed the need for the law of Moses to be followed. As the Apostle Paul had said in his epistle to the Romans, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4).

The return of Christ is a prominent theme in Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians. Five times in this short letter, he writes of the 'coming' of the Lord, and in each case he uses the Greek word 'parousia'.

There are other words translated 'coming' which are used in reference to the coming of Christ, but Paul's use of the word 'parousia', particularly in his letter to the Thessalonians, suggests a connection with Matthew's account of the Lord's Olivet Prophecy. Of the three gospels that include the Olivet Prophecy, it is only Matthew who uses the word 'parousia', where it occurs four times, as for example: "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming [parousia] of the Son of Man be." (Matthew 24:27).

Readings: Nehemiah 12; Amos 4; 2 Timothy 1

This is a very special time, because we are going to follow a precise instruction from our Lord Jesus. He said, “This do, in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19): and so we do, we remember him in bread and wine. But why did Jesus give us this instruction?

Well, so that we do remember his sacrifice, every day, even when we are really busy. Whether we are at work, with the family, at home, or with brethren and sisters, we remember that Jesus really did die for us: even when we are suffering loneliness and pain.

We concluded the last part of our study in Ezra 10, at the point where the assembly of people had devised a strategy for dealing with the problem of intermarriage, in an orderly manner; and we remarked that it might have been proposed by Shechaniah, although the Scriptures do not specifically tell us that, so we cannot truly know.

In the first part of this study, we saw Ezra arriving back in Jerusalem and being amazed, astonished and dismayed by what he found. The state of the nation grieved him. Although, as we showed, the actual number of incidences of marriages to foreign wives was really quite small, it was the fact that it was accepted by the rulers, the priests and the Levites that reflected on the whole nation. As Ezra acknowledged, it was a collective failure of the whole nation, and we remarked that he didn’t excuse himself from that collective guilt. So what to do about the situation? We concluded last time with Ezra entering a time of reflection and prayer, before deciding what to do.

Readings: Ezra 5-6; Hosea 7; Acts 25-26

By way of exhortation, we will consider the people in the days of both Ezra and Nehemiah and the approach they had in building the house of God and the wall of the city, and take examples for ourselves in our approach to building the ecclesia in our day.