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"Love,
A Good Conscience And Sincere Faith"
• 4.3.16 •
Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- With regard to Biblical content, I find
myself always wanting a little more detail. Why for example, couldn't the
writers simply date their manuscripts and say for certain where they were?
- In the case of First Timothy, believe it or
not, there are some in academia who even dispute Paul's authorship, so a solid
signature might have been helpful.
- I'd even like to know what led Paul to write.
Was it a piece of news that came his way or was it the Lord's prompting alone?
- From what is generally held, Paul is writing
this from prison, near the end of his life, around 65 A.D., just about 3 years from
the end of his life.
- What is on his heart? The Pastor of the
church of Ephesus, his protege, Timothy. Let's get started.
Text
• I Timothy
1:1,2 : "Paul, an apostle of Jesus
Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our
hope, To
Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ
our Lord." : It would have greatly relieved Timothy
to receive this letter after Paul's imprisonment.
- But this was not simply a casual letter, signaled
by the familar words, "an apostle of Jesus Christ." In writing this,
Paul expresses that he writes in an official capacity.
- An apostle was a person sent in the stead of
another person of authority. Our nearest comparison would be the office of an Ambassador.
- What he is about to write to Timothy is not a
matter of personal preference, but of divine ordinance, strengthened by the
fact that this had been a commandment!
- This letter had been conceived in the heart
of God and it was impressed upon Paul to write. The command came from the
office of the Most High!
- Why would Paul identify God as our Savior?
Isn't Jesus our Savior? Isn't God our hope? Aren't they both true? Certainly.
God the Father is our Savior and His Son is our expectation.
- All of of our hope of eternal life with God
is found in the work and worth of Jesus Christ!
- Paul is a writing to his protege and son in
the faith, Timothy whose entire Christian life, from conversion to present
position, has been shaped by Paul's ministry.
- Timothy's life has been marked by the
influence of the Apostle more than any other and Paul sees him as one who could
be entrusted with the "family business!"
- As such, he would require the usual grace and
peace, as well as the unique mercy that a servant of God needs. Mercy from God
for himself as he leads and mercy for the people he leads.
- Why would he need mercy or any other leader,
Pastor, Father, Mother employer need mercy? We begin to see why in verse 3.
• I Timothy
1:3,4 : "As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that
you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless
genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in
faith." : Timothy must have wanted to go
with Paul on his trip to Macedonia, but Paul urged him repeatedly to remain in
Ephesus.
- He had to repeat his desire to him because
the ministry in Ephesus, while successful spiritually, was marred with
difficulty and opposition physically!
- Acts 19:23-41
paints the picture of a near riot led by a idol making coppersmith who saw his
profit margin dwindle as the people of Ephesus turned toward the Lord.
- In the very next chapter, he warned the
Ephesian elders of trouble that would come from their own ranks. Listen to
Paul's warning on the beach of Miletus.
• Acts
20:26-31 : "Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the
blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of
God. Therefore
take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has
made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased
with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come
in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse
things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that
for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears." : Paul asked Timothy to remain in a difficult place and among
difficult people. He left Timothy there to "charge" some.
- The
NIV uses the word "command" and was used by the military with men who
outranked other men. Timothy needed to use exert authority toward "some"
who were falling out of line.
- This was not Timothy's strong suit. Paul was
usually the authority and Timothy supported.
- Timothy could not ignore this or hope that
the "some" in question would just simply mature! They required
authoritative attention because they were actively teaching another doctrine.
- "Heterodidaskaleo" presents the
idea of a deviation from the truth by presenting another in it's place. The
present tense indicates that this was not a simple mistake in teaching.
- That is both common and expected. We teach
and often learn better after deeper study.
- The sense here however, is that they are
continually presenting doctrine that is not in step with the church's teaching.
Timothy was to command them to discontinue their campaign.
- The church isn't a place for varied teaching.
The power in any church is it's agreement upon the essentials and charity in
the non-essentials.
- For example, the doctrine of Christ, the fact
that He is God who took on flesh and then took on the sins of His people as the
eternally atoning vicarious sacrifice is essential to believe.
- On the other hand If you hold to a post trib
rapture, feel free to believe that but understand that it will not be taught
here except for comparitive purposes. This is charity in non essential belief.
- Whoever these "some" were, they
were to be commanded to stop paying attention to fables and geneologies.
- To "give heed" would carry with it
the connotation of attaching oneself to something or to cleave to an idea.
There is a sense of devotion and thus returning to something often.
- In this case here, these people in question
are ever returning to the subjects of myths and endless, boundless questions
regarding lineage. They keep circling back to these topics.
- There isn't much clarity on the point of
specificity here. Was this a Gnostic/Judaizing hybrid of beliefs? The text will
bear out that these people had a strong tie to legalism.
- The point is that these people kept promoting
unresolvable, mysterious, esoteric teachings.
- Is it a problem to discuss that which is
mysterious? Certainly not. Is it a problem when you obssess over that which can
never be resolved to any dogmatic satisfaction? Absolutely!
- Why? Look at the fruit of such occupation.
They cause disputes! Literally, these speculations continually raise questions,
sparking increasingly greater debate and division!
- Debate and speculation have their place. That
place is not on the meeting grounds of the church! Paul lays out the priority
when he says that "godly edification" is the goal.
- I like the way that the NIV translates this last phrase. "Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing
God’s work—which is by faith."
- That is the goal of the Church! We're to declare
the truth of His Word, not debate the questions that can never be answered in
our limited time and with our limited intellect! Verse 5.
• I Timothy
1:5-7 : "Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart,
from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have
turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what
they say nor the things which they affirm." : What
commandment is Paul talking about?
- Whether it's God's to Paul, Paul's to Timothy
or God's to Israel, there is symetry in the goal.
- The purpose of all of God's commandments to
His people is love. God calls His people to love Him and to love each other.
- As an illustration, the ten commandments are
written on two tablets. The first governs our covenant love response to God and
the second our corresponding love for our neighbor!
- He wants the church to be a whole hearted
loving entity which is why he prohibits these teachings. What does continual
debate and scuffling over unanswerable dilemmas produce?
- Church would simply become a place of
frustration and anger. When we come to church, we practice love for the Lord
and for each other, especially as we gather in our weekly home fellowships.
- Paul continues noting that the goal of God's
command is that we learn respond to Him from a functioning conscience of what
is right and wrong.
- Our conscience learns to be governed by God's
Word as we attend to it's study. If we spent an hour chasing down nuance that
may or may not be valid, what have we learned?
- And notice this: The third goal is that we
would respond to God from a sincere faith. The word "sincere" comes
from a word which denotes the lack of hypocrisy or pretense.
- Let's back up: God has given these commands
to and through Paul, through Timothy, so that God's people will be a community
which loves each other truly, with an honest desire to grow in faith!
- That seems to be a fairly good mission
statement! But again, there were some who had strayed or swerved from that in
their midst.
- They turned from their primary focus and
turned instead to "idle talk." Talking which lacks purpose. It's
babbling. They gravitated toward teaching the law, but without understanding of
it!
- The sense here is that they don't understand
the law, but they confidently affirm their position nonetheless. They knew the
verbage, perhaps the letter, but the spirit evaded them!
- When they talked, it seems that instead of
being in the seat of a learner, they just set themselves in a position that
could not be shaken, no matter the evidence.
- Can I suggest why? It's because they love
themselves, have a seared conscience and have a twisted faith to suit their own
biases! They aren't more spiritual. They are in fact incredibly carnal!
- Timothy was facing a stubborn embedded group.
Paul moves not to explain the nature of the law so as to avoid any confusion.
Verse 8.
• I Timothy
1:8-11 : "But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not
made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the
ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers
and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for
kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is
contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was
committed to my trust." : Verse 8 is a must know verse for Christians. "We know that the law
is good if one uses it lawfully!"
- The NKJV uses the word "lawfully."
The NLT translates with the word "correctly." The NIV uses the word
"properly." My favorite however, is the HCSB which employs the word
"legitimately!"
- In this case, we'll take the 4th definition
of "legitimate" from the dictionary, which reads "in accordance with the laws of
reasoning; logically inferable; logical."
- The law must be applied to those whom it
applies to and Paul explicitly refers to who he means in the next phrase. The
law is not intended, laid down, for a righteous person!
- How could it be? The law merely reveals a
lack of righteousness! A person who has settled their righteousness in Christ
is not bound by the law, an external source which keeps them in line.
- Rather, a Christian is one endowed with God's
Holy Spirit, who writes His law upon their hearts and leads them to follow
Christ in responding obediently to God's heart.
- If one wants to use the law legitimately, one
would apply it to those without regard for the law, the unruly, the ones who
have no regard for God, those dedicated to sin.
- The law is for the wicked and the one who
crosses the threshhold of societal propriety. Perhaps you aren't clear. Paul
decides to make it crystal clear.
- The law is for murderers of parents and for
people who are guilty of killing, even accidentally as in the case of
manslaughter, an offense created often by ignoring the law.
- The law is for those who involve themselves
in sexual activity outside of the husband-wife marriage relationship and for "Sodomites,"
a word which literally means a man laying with a man.
- For those who believe that homosexuality is a
lower class of sin, see here that any sexuality outside of the bonds of what
God calls marriage, fits into the same category!
- He continues, noting that the law is for
kidnappers, menstealers, those who deal in human trafficking and who lie and
deal falsely with others.
- Paul hasn't given a comprehensive list and
wants Timothy to know that he can add anything that doesn't conform to sound,
healty and whole doctrine.
- Where does this healthy doctrine emanate
from? The glorious gospel of the blessed God! Paul repeatedly asserts that the
gospel was not his invention or idea.
- This was and is God's gospel for mankind
which God committed into Paul's hands, who in turn committed into the hands of
Timothy.
- In case he needed a reminder, Paul furnishes
Timothy with a reminder of the Gospel's power!
• I Timothy
1:12-14 : "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He
counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a
blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I
did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith
and love which are in Christ Jesus." : Paul had
known the power of the law which left him helpless and hopeless! This
recognition truly fuels his gratitude to the Lord.
- The law drove him to Christ, who helped him
and gave him hope! It was Christ, not the law, who endowed Paul with His
strength and considered him trustworthy.
- Consider momentarily the basis for God's
calling. Paul was not more
brilliant or talented than others. He could simply be trusted with the task at
hand so God put Him into His service!
- If you are talented, gifted and blessed among
men or women, you may also understand that without faithfulness, you will have
no place in God's service!
- To make this all the more astounding, Paul
recognizes that his record prior to Christ was one of great shame and regret.
- He had been insulting toward Christ and a
persecutor of those who called upon Him. This is a bit of an understatement
according to the book of Acts! He
was a terrorist to the Christian community!
- As he looks back over his life, he makes the
sobering judgment that he was an "insolent man." We get our English
word "hubris" from this and it speaks to excessive arrogance.
- I believe that he is speaking about his
arrogance against the Lord, as he links his "hubris" to his actions,
which he did without knowing or acknowledging the truth of Christ.
- How many could say the same thing, though
certainly not to the same degree? How many insulted Christ, persecuted those
that believed and reveled in their arrogance before conversion?
- Most of us could say that and gratefully,
most can agree with Paul as he affirms that God didn't treat him according to
his actions. Instead, the Lord's grace was exceedingly abundant!
• I Timothy
1:15 : "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." : Paul gives them a creedal announcement that was worthy of their
approval.
- Jesus Christ came into this world to save
sinners! What a truth! What a glorious saying! He came into this world to
rescue you from the Devil, who had you in His clutches.
- He came into this world to rescue you from
yourself, as your flesh dominated you into submission. But most of all, Jesus
Christ came to rescue you from His Father's wrath!
- Because of our sin, we deserved to receive
the full measure of God's wrath, but Jesus took it upon Himself, saving,
rescuing us from it!
- We can all say "amen" to this and
we may stand in line to argue with Paul's assessment of himself! "No, I am
the chief of sinners!" That was actually an attractive purchasing point to
the Lord.
• I Timothy
1:16,17 : "However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first
Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going
to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen." : Paul was the chief of sinners and
it was for that very reason that he was a recipient of God's mercy!
- Paul was a prototype, a first run product of God's
longsuffering, patient work! He would become a pattern, an imprint of the type
of person that was going to trust Jesus for everlasting life!
- Every one of us were great sinners, just as Paul
was! He obtained mercy from God when he believed and that is the same truth
that we live in today!
- Paul's understanding of this leads him to
this wonderful doxological statement: To the King eternal, immortal and
invisible! To the One who is wise, be honor and glory for ever and ever!
- Paul didn't deserve any glory and neither do
we! How much less those that sought to glorify themselves by keeping a law that
couldn't produce righteousness in the first place!?
- No, its the forever King who will never die
and who while invisible, is always present! He alone is wise and His wisdom is
wrapped up in His own grace towards His people!
- He deserves the honor, the reverence and the
glory forever and ever! Amen!
Conclusion
- Let's pray!
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