Foundations

In this session we survey the last letter of the Apostle Paul. As Paul writes his second letter to Timothy he knows his days are numbered. Paul uses illustrations of a soldier, athlete and a farmer to emphasize the disciplined, difficult and patient work of living out the Gospel as disciples of Jesus Christ. There are rules for the life in Christ, and one of them is you must pick up your cross and be willing to follow and suffer for Him.

Philemon is the fourth of Paul's prison epistles, a brief and dynamic letter Onesimus took in his hand when he went back to his master, a wealthy believer. Although a short letter, it is long on its social application and its social implications. The fact that God has made us creatures of choice who make deliberate choices seems to be very important to Paul. Jesus Christ is the only Solution we have to our personnel or relational problems.

Paul warns Timothy against materialism and teaches, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." Paul gives a word of exhortation for the rich: Do you possess the wealth or does the wealth possess you? Between the first appearing of Christ when salvation came and the second appearing when Christ returns, there is the appearing of God through you and through me, His peculiar people. The emphasis of Paul's letter to Titus is that godly oversight means godly overseers.

Paul profiles the Gospel: there is only One Mediator between God and man. In the same sense that Christ oversees the Church and shepherds the Church, a man should shepherd and oversee his wife and family, and men should oversee or shepherd the church. The Bible clearly gives the man the responsibility to be the leader of the home and the church. Paul lists the qualifications for spiritual leaders. Paul teaches us to measure your life by the Word of God.

As we survey the Books of First Timothy, Second Timothy and Titus, we are entering into the "Pastoral Epistles." The Paul/Timothy relationship has been a model for hundreds of thousands of senior pastors and junior pastors throughout church history. II Timothy 2:2, focuses for us a kind of education that will never be replace: teach reliable men who are also capable to teach other men. Paul emphasized the character that the men should have who are going to lead in church.

In Thessalonians Paul says the Lord Jesus is coming back and we are to be busy while we watch and wait for His return; pray without ceasing, and always give thanks. Although we cannot know when Jesus will return, He said there are signs of the times to watch for. In Second Thessalonians, Paul explains about the Day of the Lord that will come once Satan is given free reign over the earth before the millennial rule of Jesus Christ.

The theme of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It is important to understand that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is not one event but a series of events. We will note how Paul encourages the Thessalonians with the coming rapture and physical second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul writes that the first thing to happen when the rapture of the church takes place is "the dead in Christ shall rise first."

The Book of Colossians is Paul's masterpiece on the "Christ of the church:" Who Christ is, what Christ has done, and His all-sufficiency. The church at Colosse had 3 major problems: a philosophical attack upon the deity and person of Jesus Christ, an intellectual attack upon the faith of the people, and there were Jews imposing legalism upon the church. Paul emphasizes that Christ was Very God. Paul challenges believers to pray earnestly, with thanksgiving.

Do you have the continuous peace of God? If not, that should not surprise or disillusion you if you are not meeting God's conditions. In Philippians 4 Paul teaches us twelve conditions for the peace of God: Do not worry, pray about everything, think on good things, do the right thing, be thankful, have a reputation for gentleness, be patient, accept your circumstances, look up, delight in Him, value the approval of God, and rest your heart and mind in Christ.

The theme of Philippians is "Living in Christ through fellowship." Let this mind be in you. Paul emphasizes the importance of humility in the fellowship of believers and to consider others higher than ourselves. He teaches that we can and should know and fulfill God's good and perfect will for our lives. Paul also said, "This one thing I do, I forget the things that are behind and I reach forward to those things which are ahead."