May 11th, 2008

The Pastoral Epistles, 1 Timothy 1:12-20

"God's abundant grace."

Intro…One of the best things about the Bible is that it is full of faulted, wounded people.

Adam and Eve sinned, Cain killed Abel, People rebelled against God so he flooded the earth, Abram had a child outside of his marriage, Jacob deceived Esau, Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery (just in Gen.!) Moses killed a man and doubted God, David was adulterous and a murderer, Peter denied Christ, and Paul killed Christians…

"There but by the grace of God go I" Truth is, we're all sons and daughters of Adam and Eve.

Text: 1 Timothy 1:12-20

This is one of those passages that definitely apply to all of us. Today we are honoring Mothers and I'm sure they can relate to many of these verses.

Today's verses keep us humble, remind us of our need for Jesus. Remind us of God's grace, mercy and love in spite of our sinfulness.

If you can't identify with these verses, then you are naïve and fooling yourself.

Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

Jonathan Edwards is famous for what? "Sinners in the hands of an angry God."

sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment.

Paul was most likely the greatest missionary that lived.

He helped spread the gospel and birth many of the first Christian churches. He wrote 13 of the epistles or letters in the NT.

Yet he had a mean streak…v. 13…

He was a Pharisee, a strict defender of the Law. He acted in a way that is consistent with his identity:

His profound desire to carry out the will of God leads him to take on the responsibility of destroying the infant Church of Jesus Christ.

As he walks towards Damascus (Acts 22), ready to take as prisoner any who persist in this new sect, a voice from heaven demands: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" "Who are you, Lord?" he asks. "I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me. Get up...and you will be told what you have to do." God got ahold of him.

The Lord replies that Paul is "the instrument I have chosen to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel."

Now, compare yourself to Paul.

You may not be one of the greatest missionaries that ever lived.

You most likely have not killed Christians

You may have been a blasphemer or a violent person.

You may have had a "Damascus road experience", many Christians today have, coming from a life of reckless abandon and sin to find Jesus in a dramatic way.

Or you may need to have a "Damascus road experience", living a What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" type life. (dumb movie)

Whatever your experience in life, there are some key issues we all need to be able to recognize and identify from these verses.

V. 15 This is the gospel message. Central to the Christian faith.

It all starts with recognizing your position before a holy, righteous and just God.

Once you can admit that you are a sinner (and not self-sufficient, thinking you can do it all on your own) then you can echo Paul's sentiments:

Thanking God to consider us faithful and appointing us all to his service. We are all appointed to his service. Being a Christian is being in "full-time Christian ministry."

v. 13 Some of us have come from more wild backgrounds before we became Christians. Yet even if you never have been a blasphemer, persecutor or violent, we all still need God's mercy.

We could all compile our own list, the things we have done and be thankful for God's mercy. I usually end up compiling that list at the end of every day!

Vs. 13b If you are a Christian, "ignorance and unbelief" are no longer excuses. Paul could say this because he didn't know any better until God smacked him down and got his attention.

Take a moment and think about a time in your life when you messed up. A time where on a scale that matters to you, you made a mistake. (IOW, It may not be that big of a deal to someone else, but you know you messed up.)

Then take this verse in v. 14 and meditate on it.

v. 16… Even though we sin, the unlimited patience of God is shown through that and God actually uses that to bring people to him!

"For those who would believe on him and receive eternal life."

So, once you sort through all this, recognize your sinfulness and need of God.

v. 17 Give credit where credit is due. All props, all glory all honor goes to God.

We should start every day thanking God for life, breath, food, shelter etc.

Daily thank God for his grace and mercy.

Daily ask God for wisdom and guidance.

Paul's charge to Timothy (and us today)

Keep the prophecies, (perhaps at his ordination or commissioning) fight the good fight, hold onto the faith and good conscience.

If you don't then you'll end up rejecting the faith and shipwrecking your faith.

20 Paul gives two examples of those who have been shipwrecked: Hymenaeus and Alexander.

Hymenaeus is mentioned again as a heretical teacher in 2 Timothy 2:17.

Two Alexanders are spoken of in connection with Ephesus. The first was a Jew (Acts 19:34).

The second is "Alexander the metalworker," who did Paul a great deal of harm (2Tim 4:14). He may be the one intended here.

Paul had handed these two ringleaders "over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme."

The language here is similar to that found in 1 Corinthians 5:5, where it seems to indicate excommunication from the church.

The purpose was to jolt the offender into repentance, induced by the fearful thought of being turned over to Satan's control.

Conclusion:

The reality of not recognizing your need for God and his mercy is a shipwrecked life, a disaster waiting to break apart.

You can also be "handed over to Satan" (which happens all the time as people go about life on their own without God) and get taken through the meat grinder over and over.

This passage is a call for repentance, confession and humility.

Communion intro…

May 4th, 2008

The Pastoral Epistles, 1 Timothy 1:1-11 Beware of false doctrine

Intro…Finding Nemo clip

Text: 1 Timothy 1:1-11

Intro to 1 Timothy…

Paul is writing to Timothy his brother in the faith and protégé. Paul wrote this letter to Timothy from Macedonia. Timothy had been left in charge of the new church in Ephesus and Asia Minor.

Paul encourages Timothy to "fight the good fight" and encourages the people in the church to behave properly in the house of God, covering various important topics on that theme.

Timothy's Task at Ephesus: The Suppression of False Teachers. How best to go about that?....

v. 2b "Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."

Paul is urging Timothy to stay in Ephesus and command certain people not to teach false doctrines.

What are false doctrines? For us today, anything that doesn't agree with the Bible. Anything this is not Biblically based, Biblically solid.

When Paul wrote to Timothy, the false doctrines he spoke of were "myths and endless genealogies."

v. 7 suggests that these were Jewish teachers, who were caught up in the mythological treatment of OT genealogies. (It all sounds great, but is it really true? Did these things really happen or just a myth?)

Why is important to know that the Bible, it's stories and doctrines are true and not just "myths?" God is capable of all this…

Titus 1:14 speaks of "Jewish myths." There is abundant evidence that both these features were found in the Judaism of that day, especially in its apocalyptic literature.

4b The divine dispensation of truth does not beget fable-spinning but faith. By faith we stand, not by weaving webs of whimsical fancies" Simpson

The church has always had false teachers--they appeared on the scene within thirty-five years of the church's birth at Pentecost (A.D. 30-65).

If the church, pastor/preachers etc. are not teaching solid Biblical advice, it ends up being controversial speculations, never a good thing.

v. 6-7 When someone wonders away from sound doctrine they have turned to "meaningless talk" who "don't know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm."

It becomes personal opinion or interests, situational ethics…

As a pastor, I always have to fight the temptation to give you my own opinion…I've blown it sometimes…

v. 8-9 These false teachers wanted to be teachers of the law, but have distorted the law (the Mosaic law).

The OT laws are for those who need godly guidance, the "lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, those who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, adulterers, perverts (arsenokoitais, which means "male homosexuals" also found in 1 Cor. 6:9)), slave traders, liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel."

What a list! We don't need lengthy explanations of these because they are all obviously bad and the last phrase "whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel" covers anything else left of this list.

"As contrasted with all morbid types of belief, the gospel is healthy.... Law is a sort of medicine, only to be applied where the moral nature is diseased; Christian teaching is a healthy food for healthy people, a means of joy, freedom, larger activity" E.F. Scott

So, let's say you have learned more about the Christian faith, studied doctrine etc.

The next challenge is to let others know they are teaching false doctrine, yet to do that in v. 5 "love, a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith."

We will never go wrong when we use these four characteristics when communicating with others.

Being willing to engage in conversation and ask someone what they believe and how they came to believe that before you attack or level them with all your learned theology or doctrine.

Last year I preached a sermon series on cults and did my best to gently describe false teachers of today. (Quote from Preaching mag.)

"The end of all Christian moral preaching, the whole moral charge which is given to God's stewards is love. That is, the highest goal of true religion is love-- agape, the unselfish love of full loyalty to God and boundless goodwill to our fellowmen. This must be our ultimate goal in life."

Our hearts must be cleansed from self-centeredness, Then we must maintain a good conscience if love is to function properly. And all this is based on "sincere" (literally, "unhypocritical") faith. All love comes from God and it comes to us only as we are united to him by faith.

Application:

How best to suppress false doctrine/teachers? Study the Bible, know it inside and out so you can more easily identify what is phony.

Then you should have no trouble identifying false doctrine. If it "just doesn't seem right", then it probably isn't.

Conclusion:

When we follow and stick to solid, biblical doctrine, it will show in our lives and keep us from bad choices.

"The gospel of God's glory is the gospel which peculiarly displays His glory--unfolds this to the view of men by showing the moral character and perfections of God exhibited as they are nowhere else in the person and work of Christ" Fairbairn