June 24, 2007 - Letters To My Son: The Gospel Above All

Scripture Meditation: 1 Timothy 2 & 3

INTRODUCTION

• Someone once said the sure-fire way to make God laugh is to tell Him your plans
• God laughs at me a lot
• Because I ALWAYS have my plans
• Take this sermon series on 1 & 2 Timothy
• My plans were to take one chapter each week
• Eventually working through both books
• Well here it is three weeks into the series and my plans have already been shot!
• Last Sunday morning did them in
• And don’t blame Chris Kidd- it wasn’t his fault
• I don’t know if you heard what Henry Herring said about halfway through Chris’ testimony
• Chris glanced down at his watch and said something like: I know I don’t have much time left
• Henry spoke up and said: That’s ok- we can listen to Steve anytime!
• You know- Henry’s a retired pastor. He knows what’s really important
• And he knew God was using Chris to speak directly to many of you
• But the net result was: God changed my plans
• And I’m glad He did- because now we can proceed through this sermon series on HIS timetable- not mine
• Anyway- this morning we’ll pick up right where we left off last week.
• Please read 1 Timothy 2:9-10

DRESS MODESTLY...

• When I was growing up there was an absolute dress code for attending a Baptist church in Charlotte, North Carolina
• It was never written down- but everybody knew what it was
• Men had to wear- / Women had to wear-
• A suit- a white shirt- a tie- and dress shoes
• A dress- a hat- gloves- and high heels
• Obviously things are a LOT more casual today
• And for the most part I think that’s a good thing
• I could never understand why folks thought God expected a fashion show on Sunday mornings
• But you’d hear people say: Always wear your best clothes to church
• Frankly- I don’t think God cared much one way or the other
• Now having said that- the Bible clearly states that-
• It’s important to dress appropriately when you come to worship
• Paul’s point in 1 Timothy 2:9-10 is that your clothes shouldn’t distract people from focusing on God- from hearing the message of Jesus Christ
• So what does that mean? What kinds of clothes could keep people from focusing on God?
• For one thing- clothes that are too flashy
• If you dress up like a Hollywood star walking the red carpet at the Academy Awards
• You’re going to take the attention away from God- and put it on you
• Clothes that are too casual can keep people from focusing on God
• Remember- you’re coming to God’s House to worship
• You’re not bumming-around the Pavilion at Myrtle Beach
• Finally- clothes that are too provocative can keep people from focusing on God
• Let’s put it this way: If you’re dressing to show the opposite sex how hot you are
• You are NOT dressing appropriately for church
• Now I’m not going to take this any further at this time
• But- young people- if you have any questions at all
• Feel free to see me after church. OK?

A WOMAN SHOULD...

1 Timothy 2:11-12

• The question of what women can do in worship has always created controversy in the church
• It’s one of those issues that can be very divisive
• And I’m afraid Paul bears most of the blame for that
• On the one hand you have this passage in 1 Timothy 2:12
• Now read 1 Corinthians 14:33-35
• At first glance these passages of Scripture seem pretty straight-forward
• A woman is not permitted to teach or to have authority over a man
• In the church women must be silent.
• Now if this was the only thing the Bible ever said about the issue of women and worship-
• It wouldn’t be politically correct by 21st century standards
• But the issue would be settled
• As Bible-believing Christians we’d have to submit to what God’s Word says
• We’d have no other choice
• BUT- that’s not the only thing Paul wrote about the issue of women in the church

Galatians 3:26-28

• Now this is a radical concept- especially in the context of the 1st century Roman world
• For people who have been baptized into Christ old social and sexual barriers no longer apply
• The blood that Jesus shed on the Cross- the blood that covers all of us
• Changes EVERYTHING
• It liberates- it transforms- it changes your life and your attitudes
• Look what happened to Paul. Here’s a man whose life was turned upside down. He went from being...
• A Jew who thought you could earn salvation by observing the Law- into a born-again believer who knew that salvation was found in Christ- and Christ alone
• A persecutor of the church into the greatest evangelist the world has ever known
• A tradition-bound male who would’ve never publicly associated with women or Gentiles or slaves into a man who understood that in Christ all things become new!
• With that in mind- let’s consider a good friend of Paul named Priscilla

Acts 18:24-26

• Get the picture here: Priscilla- a woman- took Apollos- a man who was faithfully serving God as a missionary evangelist
• And explained to him the way of God more adequately.
• In other words: Priscilla TAUGHT Apollos the full truth of God’s Word
• And she must have done a good job
• Because Paul always expressed absolute confidence in Priscilla’s teaching and Apollos’ preaching!
• In other places in the New Testament Paul endorses the preaching and teaching of women like Phoebe- and Lydia- and the daughters of Phillip
• So what’s going on here?
• Have can one man have two such radically different approaches to the same subject?
• The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
• Paul’s missionary strategy never varied
• He never compromised on the fundamental message of the Gospel
• Jesus died on the Cross of Calvary for the sin of the world
• Jesus was physically raised from the dead on the third day
• And that a person is saved by God’s grace- activated through faith in Jesus- not of works so that no one can boast in themselves
• That message never changed- but Paul was perfectly willing to adapt himself to the cultural realities of the day
• The fact is that in the Judaism in which he was raised- and the Roman world in which he lived
• Women were second class citizens
• It was an unsaved, male-dominated world that wouldn’t have accepted the sight of female preachers and teachers
• Against that backdrop Paul says:
• Women may participate in worship- they may be taught the truths of God’s Word (both of which were pretty radical ideas at the time)
• But-
• They should do so quietly so that- in the world in which we live-
• We can better share the truth of the Gospel with a lost and dying world
• Obviously- today’s world is different
• Women are business executives- military officers- doctors- lawyers- political leaders- construction foremen
• You name it
• Women are doing it
• In this cultural context I have no doubt Paul would readily endorse women serving in all forms of ministry
• IF- and only if- it helps people come to know Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord
• That was ALWAYS Paul’s bottom line
• And it better be OUR bottom line as well!

IF ANYONE SETS HIS HEART ON BEING AN OVERSEER

1 Timothy 3:1

• The Greek word translated as overseer is episkopos
• This word is used throughout the New Testament to refer to leaders in the local church
• These overseers fulfilled a role similar to a modern-day pastor
• Now it’s interesting to note that 1 Timothy 3
• Doesn’t contain a job description of what a pastor-overseer is supposed to DO
• It talks about the Christian character of a person who would aspire to that role (1 Timothy 3:2-7)
• What we’ve got here are fifteen specific qualifications- or character traits- that must exist in a pastor-overseer
• First of all- it says the overseer must be above reproach
• The Greek literally means: not to be laid hold of
• It carries the idea of not being able to bring any charge of wrong doing
• It doesn’t mean that the overseer must be beyond criticism
• But- to be honest- it comes pretty close
• The second qualification for an overseer is that he must be the husband of but one wife
• Some Christians have interpreted this to mean that divorced people are not qualified to serve as a pastor
• There’s no question divorced pastors do face some unique challenges in ministry- but that’s not what Paul is talking about here
• In the Greek it’s clear Paul is thinking about polygamy
• The idea is that the pastor-overseer must be married to only one woman at a time
• And that he must be absolutely faithful to the wife God has given him
• The next four qualifications have to do with the Christian character of the overseer
• He must be temperate, self-controlled, respectable (and) hospitable
• To put it another way: He must have the mind and love of Christ about him
• The seventh qualification is that the overseer must be able to teach
• In the New Testament preaching and teaching are pretty much the same thing
• In other words: The pastor-overseer must have the spiritual gift of prophecy
• And prophecy doesn’t mean the ability to tell the future. In the Bible prophecy is...
• The God-given gift to prayerfully meditate and study the Bible
• So that you can rightly instruct the people of God in the truths of the Word of God
• You know these days sermons are supposed to be inspirational- motivational- relevant- entertaining-enlightening- practical- it’s a long list
• Look- I hope you find my preaching to be all those things
• But above all I hope you can say one thing about my preaching:
• That Steve Bass- he ALWAYS preaches the Word of God
• Because in God’s eyes- that’s the only thing that matters!
• The eighth qualification for a pastor-overseer is that he not be given to much wine
• The Greek carries the idea of becoming tipsy or drunk
• In other words: Pastor-overseers don’t have to be teetotalers
• In those days everyone drank wine because water wasn’t safe to drink
• But in any event a pastor should never drink to excess
• The Bible goes on to say pastor-overseers should be gentle- not violent or quarrelsome
• The idea is that a pastor must be a peacemaker- a unifier- someone who brings people together
• Not somebody who is always contentious- always spoiling for a fight
• Let’s put it this way: If a pastor is busy driving wedges between people in the church
• He is a disgrace to his office
• And his church will never be capable of reaching a lost and dying world with the Good News of Jesus Christ
• The twelfth qualification for being a pastor-overseer is that he must not be a lover of money
• This doesn’t mean you have to take a vow of poverty when you become a pastor
• What it means is that making a lot of money can’t be the driving force in your life
• Here’s the problem with having a pastor-overseer who is consumed with a love of money
• Eventually- he’s either going to...
• Be tempted to misuse church funds for his personal enrichment
• Or he’s going to neglect his ministry to pursue secular, money-making ventures
• In either case the cause of Christ will be damaged or destroyed- and that can’t be allowed to happen!
• This is what Paul is talking about in 1 Timothy 6:10
• The next qualification for being a pastor-overseer is that he must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.
• There’s an old saying that says: If you want to take the full measure of a man- look at his wife
• The idea is that a man’s relationship with his wife and family is an indication of the kind of relationship he’ll have with the church
• In other words:
• If the people who know the pastor-overseer best love and respect him- and if he loves and respects them
• The chances are excellent:
• That he will love and respect the church
• And that the church will come to love and respect him
• 1 Timothy goes on to say that an overseer must not be a recent convert- or a new Christian
• The danger is that such a person might become conceited- literally puffed-up with pride
• When that happens the pastor-overseer would fall under the same judgment as the devil
• This is a reference to the fall of Satan
• The Bible says that Satan was an archangel who rose up in rebellion against God
• Please read Revelation 12:7-9
• Now here’s how all this ties into 1 Timothy 3:6
• It is generally assumed that the reason Satan rebelled against God was pride
• He was unwilling to accept that God is the Creator and worthy of all praise and honor and glory
• Satan wanted to take God’s place
• And it resulted in his being cast out of heaven
• It’s not coincidental that ALL sin is ultimately rooted in a prideful spirit
• When you refuse to let God be God
• When you try to take His place-
• Try to become your own god
• That is the absolute essence of sin
• And it INEVITABLY leads to judgment and disaster- just like it did for Satan
• The Bible says: The wages- the pay-off- of sin is death- eternal separation from God in a hell prepared for Satan and his demons
• The final qualification for being a pastor-overseer is that he must have a good reputation with outsiders
• It’s a fact: If a leader in the church has a bad reputation in the community
• It will bring irreparable damage to the church- and the cause of Christ
• I remember when the Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals first hit the news
• Neither guy had anything to do with the Southern Baptist Convention or any local Baptist church
• But for several years- every time I tried to talk to someone about Jesus- their names would come up
• Every Christian I’ve ever known is a hypocrite
• Just like Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart!
• Did you notice what these folks said?
• It wasn’t every pastor I’ve ever known is a hypocrite- although there are a lot of pastors who are hypocrites
• It was every CHRISTIAN I’ve ever known is a hypocrite
• Now the word hypocrite comes from the world of the Greek theater
• Because each actor would play a number of different parts in a play
• Each actor would hide behind different masks to disguise his true identity
• Today being a hypocrite means being someone who...
• Claims to be one thing
• But whose lifestyle shows them to be something else
• When non-Christians call Christians hypocrites
• They mean they see an inconsistency between the things we say we believe
• And the things we actually do in our life
• As a pastor-overseer God expects me to have a good reputation with outsiders
• He expects the same thing from you
• The fact is EVERY born-again believer has an obligation to live a life that...
• Is pleasing to God
• And is a positive witness for Christ
• If you don’t do it- and people fail to come to know Jesus because of YOU
• God will hold you accountable!
• It’s true for pastors- it’s true for you

CONCLUSION

• You know- in my own life I’ve learned that the only way to come CLOSE to being the Christian God expects me to be is to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit
• On my own I blow it every time
• Whenever I fully submit to the Holy Spirit- I am successful
• Philippians 4:13 expresses this principle this way: I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
• Look- if you’ve been struggling with living a life that is pleasing to God
• Print Philippians 4:13 on a note card-
• Put it in your wallet or purse
• Then pull it out and read it whenever you feel under Satan’s attack
• I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
• What a promise!
• What a source of encouragement!
• I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Let us pray