Paul and Timothy defend their teaching and their motives to the people in the church of Corinth. It’s not for themselves that they preach about God, nor is their message from them. They are controlled by Christ’s love and their actions are for the sake of those God has saved.

Geoff preached about this on Sunday and was telling us his job title Assistant Minister at St Andrew’s Wahroonga Ambassador for the Lord of the Universe!

No one promises it will be easy, but it is what he “who is to judge the living and the dead” calls us to do.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 is always quoted; it’s a great message. Since it’s quoted so often, it can sometimes overshadow the rest of the passage, which says “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”, but “continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed”.

I’m not sure why verse 9 says “their folly will be plain to all”. There are some selfish deceivers whose folly is evident to all, but there are some who are convincing, otherwise they wouldn’t lead people astray.

A lot happens in chapter 2, lots of illusions and instructions; soldiers, athletes, farmers, vessels of gold and silver… then it says to flee youthful passions and pursue righteous faith.

I think the main point is that we should be useful, for God to use us as he wills, to spread the gospel.

2 Timothy 1 talks a lot about a gift from God that Timothy should fan into flame (v6), Timothy is to guard the good deposit (v14), and there’s something that God is able guard (v12). By the end of our group’s bible study I think we decided that these are referring to the gospel, entrusted to Paul, entrusted to Timothy, to guard and spread like fire.

I found verse 10 very challenging. It really speaks for itself.

One lamb for each household — a replacement for the firstborn of each house. One dies that another might live, saved from the judgement of God.

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:10

Everyone has heard some version of the story. God spoke to Moses through a burning bush. Moses is a bit of a wuss about it sometimes — not that you can blame him really, what a huge task to go back to Egypt and convince Pharaoh — but he questions God’s choice quite a lot. Like God did not know what he was doing?

It’s good to see God’s faithfulness to his people. They were aliens, oppressed in a foreign land, and he rescues them. Sound familiar?

Only recently have I heard people talk about the “two main salvation periods of history”. I hadn’t really thought about it that way before, but the time of Moses and Israel’s exodus from Egypt, and the time of Jesus are the two main ways that God saves his people. The first one being a sort of reflection of the second.

In Exodus we read that Moses is saved from death as a baby, only to find himself driven out of Egypt. Exiled from his home and cut off from his people, similar to how Israel is separated from the promised land and cut off from God.

Jesus also escaped a king’s attempts to kill him as a baby, and upon entering his ministry he was tempted for 40 days and nights; tempted to sin like the ones he came to save.

God’s plans work. God doesn’t just use happenstance, he acts, even in the details.