ENRICHED BY FAITH

“When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also" (2 Tim. 1:5 NKJV).

Good mothers want their children to succeed in life. Godly mothers want their children to have eternal life. Eunice gave her son the greatest gift a mother can give her children. She gave him wisdom through the Scripture to know the way of salvation in Christ by faith.

Testimony of His Mother - We know very little about the family of Timothy. His father was a Greek and therefore probably was an unbeliever. His grandmother and mother were Jews, but were converted to Christianity. Timothy was influenced greatly by these godly women in his life. While Paul would have been instrumental in training Timothy, it was his godly mother who laid the spiritual foundation in his life.

Treasure to His Mother - It was the Lord Jesus who said: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). A mother’s heart is with her children. Her thoughts are toward her children. Her prayers are offered to God for her children. Children are a treasure to their mother. She protects them more than a man would protect his treasures. She provides for them before she would provide for herself. Timothy was a treasure to his mother.

Taught By His Mother – Scripture states that Timothy was taught as a child (2 Tim. 3:15). The word “child” literally means from infancy. His godly mother started teaching Timothy about God when he was a small child. He was taught the truths of Scripture. His mother taught him about the God of Israel - of the Creator, of His power and His promises. She taught him about the coming Messiah. Next, Eunice taught Timothy that Jesus Christ was the Savior and he would have to place his faith in Him in order to be saved. Timothy believed on Jesus and was saved. It is a blessing to have a saved Mother.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“The character of our children tomorrow depends on what we put into their hearts today!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Distinction

In Rom. 3:22 we read, “Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction!" (NASB).

Distinction the Greek word diastolē (διαστολή = dee-as-tol-ay'). It is means difference, distinction, separation. In Classical Greek diastolē means dilatation as in a medical sense or physical separation as by a boundary or fence. With regard to people, diastolē is used to mean discrimination or distinction.

In the Septuagint as well as the New Testament, diastolē is used to mean division or difference. So, there is no difference and no distinction between men because all men are sinners and all “fall short of the glory of God.” Just as no one is good enough to be saved, no one is so evil that he cannot be saved. The word emphasizes the fact that faith in Jesus Christ is the only requirement for receiving God’s righteousness. We all begin in the same place spiritually, and there is only one way out, faith in Jesus Christ. This is the wonderful point of Rom. 3:22.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah will be “the Good Shepherd” (Psalm 23:1)

New Testament Fulfillment – John 10:11

Did You Know…

Zipporah had the distinction of being the first woman in the Bible to circumcise her child. Her name means ‘little bird.’ She was given in marriage to Moses by her father Jethro, a Midian priest. Moses had rescued her and her six sisters from shepherds harassing them while they attempted to water their sheep at a desert well (Exodus 4:24-26).

Bible Quiz

Who was the only named woman in the Bible who died in childbirth?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: How old was Abraham when Isaac was born? 100 years old (Gen. 21:5)

Everyday Expressions Alluded to in the Bible

"All over but the shouting”

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16 NKJV).

“All over but the shouting” - The expression “all over but the shouting” carries the idea of something that’s just about finished. In context, the trump of God shall sound. The trumpet has always been used for the purpose of arousing attention and warning. The whole universe - both earth and heaven, believers, unbelievers, and angels - will be aroused. The Lord Himself will appear and the events of the end time will begin upon earth.

Did You Know – Christian History

Henry Barclay Swete was born March 14, 1835 in Bristol. He was an English Biblical scholar who was known for his 1906 commentary on the Book of Revelation, and other works of exegesis.

Swete was educated at King’s College London, and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He had a weak body, and at times could not even walk. This led him to channel his energies into the work of a pastor and teacher, becoming one of the greatest scholars of his day - a professor at King’s College and Cambridge, the staunch defender of the truth of the Bible and of the Apostles’ Creed against modern critics.

His output was immense, his research careful, his friendship and advice for other scholars invaluable. He stimulated Cambridge’s theological studies and his lectures became the best attended courses in the divinity faculty. Among his works were several on the Holy Spirit, a commentary of the Apocalypse, The Old Testament in Greek According to the Septuagint and much more. He attempted to make his lectures and most of his writings clear to persons with little theological training, especially pastors.

Swete was the editor of Cambridge Theological Essays, the Cambridge Biblical Essays, a contributor to Smith and Wace’s Dictionary of Christian Biography, and Hastings’s Dictionary of the Bible. He also produced many historical and critical works, including The Apostles’ Creed in Relation to Primitive Christianity; Church Services and Service Books before the Reformation; Patristic Study; The Appearances of Our Lord after the Passion, and The Last Discourse and Prayer of Our Lord.

Right up to the end, Henry Swete was thinking of others. In the year before his death, he ministered to several elderly and chronically ill individuals who were placed in his care. A severe case of flu laid him low in April, 1917 when he was 83 years old. So strong was his desire to finish some essays that he almost recovered. Yet he fretted that he was creating a strain on the household. When death neared, he asked to have the sinner’s prayer read to him: “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.”

Swete died on May 10, 1917, declaring himself unworthy of heaven but embracing it on the ground that Christ freely offered it to him. He was described as a “pillar of Christian learning and a pattern of Christian life.”

A Little Humor

My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL. – “If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“To deny one’s guilt and reject Christ is the worst kind of insanity!”