INTRODUCTION
- I want to begin this morning by congratulating the North Carolina Department of Transportation
- Granted- it’s taken forever to get here
- But now that’s it’s here: The new section of the Outer Beltway between I-85 and Highway 16 is great
- BUT- let me offer a friendly word of advice
- When you’re on the new highway
- Watch your speed!
- The other night we’re coming home from seeing Vivian
- Yes- we saw Matthew & Rebecca too
- But I’m a grandfather. Let’s get real here
- Anyway- I’m cruising up 485 when Pam glances over and says: Do you realize you’re going 80 miles an hour?
- Honestly- I didn’t
- The road is so smooth- and the trees set so far back
- I had no way to judge how fast I was going
- Fortunately- Pam’s warning gave me a chance to slow down
- See- Steve Bass is a law-abiding citizen
- I don’t speed
- I don’t pass in no-passing zones
- I don’t illegally download music
- Shoot- I never even tried to skip class when I was in high school
- The truth is-
- I don’t want to break ANY laws
- The thought of being arrested for breaking a law makes me break out in a cold sweat
TRANSITIONAL REMARKS
- Which is why the sermon series we’re beginning today makes me a little nervous
- See this morning we’re starting a ten-part sermon series on 1 & 2 Timothy
- It’s going to last throughout the summer
- Which- I know- is a long time
- But I believe you’re going to be greatly blessed and encouraged by these two incredible books of the Bible
- But I’ve got to warn you: What we’re about to do is a violation of federal law
- See- it’s illegal to read someone else’s mail
- And ultimately that’s what 1 & 2 Timothy are
- They’re letters written by Paul to his ministerial protégé- Timothy
- As such they’re extremely personal- but they also have something to say to anyone who is trying to live a godly, Spirit-filled, life of faith in Christ
- So with all that in mind- let’s turn to 1 Timothy chapter 1. We’ll begin with the first verse.
PAUL, AN APOSTLE OF CHRIST JESUS
- Notice what Paul does right off the bat-
- He establishes his apostolic credentials
- He says he is an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior
- To be perfectly honest- Paul didn’t need to do this
- Unlike his letter to the church at Galatia- where his qualifications to be an apostle were under attack
- Paul knows Timothy recognizes that he has been uniquely called by God to share the message of Jesus Christ with the Gentile world
- So why does Paul bother to write these words?
- I think it’s because it truly amazed and humbled Paul to realize that God had entrusted HIM with this awesome responsibility
- Notice what he says in verses 12-14
- You know- sometimes Christians become very blasé about their relationship with Jesus
- They don’t take it very seriously- it becomes white noise in the background of their life
- Granted- they’ll show up for church a on Sunday morning
- If the weather’s not too bad- and they don’t have anything better to do
- But the truth is their faith-walk with Christ is no longer a burning passion in their life
- I think this happens because folks seduce themselves into believing that THEY didn’t need much of God’s grace
- I was never that bad a person in the first place.
- I’ve always lived a good life
- Always done the right thing- treated other people kindly
- Ask anybody!
- They’ll tell you.
- I’ve always lived like a Christian
- Folks- let me tell you something:
- God had to do the same thing to save you- that He had to do to save the vilest sinner on the face of this Earth!
- He had to send His only begotten Son into this world to die on the Cross for your sin
- Paul never allowed himself to forget this fact
- God’s grace- Jesus’ sacrifice-
- Never ceased to amaze him
- He could never stop talking about it
- Can you believe it? God loved ME!
- Amazing!
- I’ll never stop praising Him for it- and I’ll NEVER stop telling others about it!
TO TIMOTHY, MY TRUE SON IN THE FAITH
1 Timothy 1:2 - To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
- 1 Timothy 1:2 is not the only time Paul refers to Timothy as my son
- In 1 Corinthians 4:17 he refers to Timothy as my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord
- In Philippians 2:22 Paul commends Timothy as one who had proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the Gospel.
- These verses of Scripture have led some people to conclude that Paul had no children of his own
- That in the absence of biological children
- Timothy had become a kind of surrogate son to Paul
- Look- here’s what we know
- An observant Jewish male like Paul
- Would have gotten married
- There’s no question about that
- We also know that observant Jewish couples were expected to produce children
- In Genesis 1 God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply
- For a Jewish couple this meant you had to TRY to have kids- there was no other option
- Personally I believed Paul had been married at some point in his life- and did have children
- I mean when you read some of the things he had to say about being married- and rearing children
- It certainly sounds like someone who’s had those kinds of experiences
- So why does Paul call Timothy my true son in the faith? I think it shows that Paul had a special bond with Timothy
- Granted- he was the senior partner. He saw himself as Timothy’s mentor
- But ultimately the bonds they shared were the bonds any believer shares with another Christian
- Paul and Timothy were brothers in Christ
- They knew they had:
- The same Heavenly Father
- Been saved by the same blood that Jesus Christ shed on the Cross of Calvary
- Each been the recipients of God’s amazing grace
- Each received a unique call to share the Good News with a lost and dying world
- And that tied them together in ways that blood relations never could
COMMAND CERTAIN MEN NOT TO TEACH FALSE DOCTRINE
1 Timothy 1:3-7- You know- it sometimes amuses me how naïve certain Christians are when it comes to being a part of a church
- These folks have ridiculously unrealistic ideas about what a church is
- Which is why they become shocked- SHOCKED- when problems crop up in the church
- Sometimes you’ll hear these people say: I wish I could have lived in Bible times- when there weren’t any problems in the church
- Are you kidding me?
- Churches in the Bible were just as screwed up and whacked out as any church you’ll find today
- Remember- churches...
- Are not-
- Institutions
- Buildings
- Country clubs for plastic saints
- Are made up of sinful, fallible human beings who-
- Can say and do really dumb and hurtful things
- Belong to the church for one reason- and one reason alone: They have been saved by God’s amazing grace
- Go back and read Paul’s letters to the churches in Corinth and Galatia and Thessalonica
- Those people were crazy!
- These churches had problems galore
- Problems we can’t even imagine today
- Things like-
- Men marrying their stepmothers
- People arguing over politics, theology and everything else that came down the pike
- Folks getting drunk at the Lord’s Supper table
- Worship services that became pentecostal free-for-alls
- Members who got so caught up in Second-Coming fever they refused to do any work
- Jealousy- cliques- gossiping- back-biting
- These churches struggled with all these things- and more
- Now the problem in the church in Ephesus was theological
- Paul talks about certain church leaders who were preaching and teaching false doctrine
- In other words: People were being lead to believe things that didn’t conform to the absolute truth of the Word of God
- To be honest we don’t know exactly what was being said in the church
- Remember- we’re reading a private letter Paul wrote to Timothy
- He didn’t have to tell him what the false doctrine was- Timothy already knew that
- But having said that-
- It is possible to make an educated guess concerning the nature of these false doctrines
- We base that educated guess on Paul reference to myths and endless genealogies
- Now the myths Paul refers to probably concerns some form of Gnostic teaching
- Gnosticism was an heretical movement that took root in the early church
- Have you ever read about so-called lost- or suppressed- books like The Gospel Of Thomas or The Gospel of Judas?
- The truth is- these books were never lost. They were products of this heretical Gnostic teaching
- The best way to describe Gnosticism is that it was a curious blend of Christianity- Judaism- Greek philosophy- and paganism
- A lesser or inferior god- found in the Old Testament- who was responsible for Creation
- And a superior god- a spiritual god- who was revealed in Jesus the Christ
- According to these Gnostic teachers-
- Salvation consisted of:
- Learning the so-called secret, spiritual teachings of Christ
- Which allowed you to be freed from the clutches of the inferior god of the Old Testament- the god of Creation
- If it sounds crazy- it’s only because it was
- On the other hand- the term endless genealogies probably refers to a strong Jewish influence in the Ephesian church
- Evidently some Jewish-Christian were pointing to their heritage:
- I’m a direct descendant of Jacob
- A member of the tribe of Benjamin!
- To suggest that they were morally or spiritually superior to the Gentile believers in the church
- So- understand what was going in Ephesus
- Some members were suggesting that God’s grace wasn’t sufficient for salvation- you needed the secret knowledge they possessed
- Others were claiming that they didn’t really need God’s grace at all- that their family connections were enough to get them in heaven
- Timothy’s challenge- and it was a BIG one
- Involved:
- Confronting this heresy in the church
- Teaching the Ephesian Christians the truth about the Gospel
- And leading the church to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ
- Basically the rest of 1 & 2 Timothy consists of Paul’s words of encouragement and instruction as Timothy takes on this incredibly difficult task
- Now- let’s get back to these false doctrines.
- Notice how Paul summarizes the problem they present:
- He says they promote controversies rather than God’s work- which is by faith
- To put it another way:
- People were sitting around arguing over lies and silly superstitions
- Instead of focusing on the Good News of God’s grace activated through faith in Jesus Christ!
- You know- Christians are amazingly creative when it comes to finding things to argue about
- Sometimes they...
- Divide over theological issues like baptism, speaking in tongues or how often the Lord’s Supper should be observed
- Fight and feud over political power in the church
- Split over a pastor’s leadership style or the kind of music that will be played and sung in the church
- Work themselves into a lather over trivial things like the color of the carpet in the sanctuary
- But the common denominator in church conflict- in all times and in all places- is the same:
- It diminishes the church’s ability to proclaim the Good News of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ
- And it destroys the bonds of Christian love that should exist between the members of the church
WE KNOW THAT THE LAW IS GOOD IF ONE USES IT PROPERLY
- One of the issues Paul knew Timothy would face involved the Old Testament Law. Questions like:
- Could obeying the Law save you?
- Could obeying the Law add anything to a Christian’s relationship with God in Christ Jesus?
- What was the purpose of the Law?
- Paul had always taught him that obeying the Law couldn’t save you (Ephesians 2:8-9)
- Paul had also taught Timothy that obedience to the Law couldn’t add anything to a Christian’s relationship with God
- Galatians 3:1-5
- The Galatian Christians had received the Spirit by believing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- The Law had nothing to do with it
- The Galatians had never heard of the Old Testament Law when they accepted Jesus and received the Holy Spirit.
- But that was the moment God began to pour out His blessings in their lives
- Given that Timothy knew these things- the real question he faced involved the purpose of the Law.
- After all- God gave the Law.
- He clearly intended it to do something
- Read Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:8-11
- Don’t miss what Paul is saying here
- The Old Testament Law wasn’t intended for the righteous- for those who are living by saving faith in Jesus Christ
- The Law exists for those living outside the kingdom of God
- What the Law does is expose the sin in their life
- Which will hopefully lead them to seek salvation in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
- That’s what Paul means when he says teaching about the Law must conform to the glorious gospel of the blessed God
- Before we move on- let me make an important point about the Old Testament Law
- While the Bible clearly says that Christians aren’t obligated to keep all the rules and regulations and rituals of the Law
- That doesn’t mean you should disregard what the Bible says in the Old Testament. Even the most obscure laws can help you understand:
- What God thinks is important in life (and if it’s important to the Creator- it ought to be important to you)
- And studying the Law can help you live a more godly life
- BUT- never let the study of the Law take the place of faith
- Remember- we aren’t saved by obedience to the Law
- We are saved by the awesome grace of our loving God
CONCLUSION
- This is what Paul discovered on the Road to Damascus
- Until he met Jesus Paul was a Pharisee
- He was absolutely, 100% percent committed to living a life of faithful obedience to God
- For Paul that meant a fanatical adherence to the Old Testament Law
- And look where it got him
- Please read Acts 9:1-5
- Paul had all the right intentions
- But until he met Jesus- he didn’t have grace
- And until he had grace- he didn’t have salvation
- Look- if you’ve been trying to get right with God by living a good life- or trying to do the right thing
- You will wind up dying and going to a hell prepared for Satan and his demons
- See all of your efforts at self-righteousness are checked by a simple fact: You are a sinner
- And the only way a sinner can get right with God is to take Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord
- In closing I want you to read what the Bible says in John 3:16-18
- Any questions? Let us pray
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