PASSING CHRISTIANITY DOWN AN EXPOSITION
OF FIRST TIMOTHY
B. The Faith Polluted (1:1-20)
(a) The Protectors of the Faith
(1: 1-3; 12-20)
Sermon 2
TIMOTHY - PASSING THE FAITH
(1:1-3: 12-20)
“Watch out for false prophets.” (Matt. 7)
“Guard yourselves and all the flock of God. After I leave horrible wolves will come in and will not spare the flock. Even from your own group men will rise up and distort the truth.” (Acts 20)
(Paul to the pastors of Ephesus years before)
When Paul assigned Timothy to correct false teachers Timothy had to be “urged” (v3). The term means strong persuasion. Timothy did not feel he was the man for the job. But Paul knew that when God appoints, God anoints. When God sends us God strengthens us. Paul himself once said of his ministry, “Who is sufficient for all this?” (2 Cor. 2:16) He answered his own question in 3:5, “We don’t have the right to claim we have done anything on our own. God gives us what it takes to do what we do.”(CEV) Let’s see what Timothy needed and received.
THE BELIEF NEEDED
False Teachers in the Church
Timothy’s first assignment was, “Warn teachers to stop spreading false teaching.” (v4)The motto of every Pastor should be, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.”
The Christian church has been called to fight a war on two fronts, against the unbelievers on the outside and false believers on the inside.
The church is a Trojan Horse inside of which the devil places some of his best (or worst) warriors. In the Apostolic Band Jesus was betrayed by Judas, one inside the band. The people of Israel most responsible for His death were the Bible teachers (Scribes), the church pillars (Pharisees) and the priests- people leading the Jewish church. mockers on the outside and Bible deniers on the inside. Paul told the Pastors from Ephesus- from your own group men will rise up and distort the truth.
Satan is a formidable opponent. He persecutes us from without and attempts to change the truth of the gospel from within. If you were the devil where would you put your best people, in the bars or in the churches - In the pews or in the pulpits?
From day one men not called of God have assumed the position of Pastor or Bishop or Pope and turned from the Word of God to preach lies instead of truth, speculations instead of revelations, what is logical instead of what is written, what is popular instead of what is scorned and what is profitable instead of what is costly to everyone who proclaims it.
Sheep in the pews are easy prey for such men who come with eloquence and worldly wisdom and flattery. When people come into the Christian church they bring their false beliefs and practices with them. They are baby Christians (1Cor. 3; Heb. 6), morally and intellectually. Some do not grow intellectually, because they do not change their beliefs to fit the Bible; they change the Bible to fit their beliefs.
False Teachers from the Beginning
Much of the NT was written to expose and do away with false teachings. When converts from the Jewish faith were told the old laws and rituals were no longer binding they threw away some moral laws. The Book of James was written to say true faith produced moral and ethical “works” of a godly life (Ch. 2). This is the heresy of “antinomianism-against law”, that pops up all the time in Church History and says it safe to sin because we are saved.
The Book of Galatians was written for the opposite reason. Jewish converts to the Faith were saying true Christians would keep on obeying Jewish laws and rituals. Galatians 2:21 says,“If being right with God can come through works, then Christ died for nothing” (2:21). This is the heresy of legalism. On and on it goes, men changing the Word of God to fit their own beliefs.
False Teachers in Ephesus -3:16 (Gnostics)
When Christianity moved into Asia Minor (Modern turkey) because of the missionary journeys of Paul and others, many Gentiles were won to faith in Christ.
A very popular Gentile belief was there that later came to be called “Gnosticism” (Knowledge). It wrestled with the difficult problem of how a good God could create a sin filled and sorrow filled world like this one. Its solution was than the Creator had very little to do with this world. He created through level after level of inferior beings called aeons. God, they said, was pure “spirit” and pure “goodness and love”; and He would have nothing to do with this evil physical world. He would not look at it, have anything to do with it and certainly not touch it.
Jesus Could Not Be God
The Gnostics then could never believe that the invisible holy God could become human, could become flesh and blood, so they changed the truth to fit their belief. Some said He was man and only appeared to be God and others said He was God and only seemed to be a real human being.
To the first group Paul said in Colossians, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him were all things created.” (Col. 1:15). To the second group John the Apostle said, “The Word was made flesh…which we have heard…seen… and touched.” (John 1, 1 John 1). It seems that some of these false Pastors Timothy faced were Gnostics because we read in 1 Timothy 3:16, “The mystery of godliness is great- He appeared in a body.” In Jesus God and human flesh came together.
False Teachers in Ephesus (4:1-4) (Jewish Legalists)
In 4:1-4 Paul talks about false teachers forbidding marriage and forbidding the eating of certain foods. This could have been a branch of Gnosticism, could have been Jewish lega.lists or the two could have formed some kind of alliance. Whatever it was Paul trusted young Timothy to deal with it because he had the right beliefs. The question was, did he have the bravery to stand up to false Pastors and the people who believed their lies?
THE BRAVERY NEEDED
The word “urge” shows that Paul almost had to make Timothy stay and fight for the faith. From the letter we see :
1. The Assignments Given
(1) Teach the truth of Christianity (4:6)
(2) Stop false teachers (1: 3)
(3) Tell saved people how to live (3:15)
(4) Live an exemplary Christian life (4:11, 16)
(5) Don’t be pushed around (4:12; 5:23)
Had Timothy and all like him after the Apostles were gone failed, Christianity would have died with Paul and the Apostles. But it didn’t. They took up the torch of truth and martyrdom and passed the faith on and down to us. Our task is to do the same.
Illustration: There is a legend that the angel Gabriel met Jesus when He ascended back to heaven and asked Him how He planned to get the message of His sacrifice to the entire world. Jesus said, I left it in the hearts and hands of my disciples. Gabriel said, what is your contingency plan if they fail? Jesus said, “I have no other plan.”
“Christ has no tongues but our tongues to tell men why He died/ He has no help but our help to lead men to His side.”
The Assignment Feared (1:3)
As we talk to Pastors about their call, the majority will tell us they fought it like Moses (Exodus 3) and Jeremiah (Jer. 1). Timothy answered the call years before to be a missionary but he fought this call to be a heretic hunter in Ephesus. Timothy had a lot going against him.
(1) He was young (1 Tim. 4:12)
(2) He was sick a lot (5:23)
(3) He was timid and afraid
Read between the lines of these verses:
“Don’t let anyone look, down on your youth” (4:12)
“Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” (5:23)
The stomach problem was probably due not to what he was eating but to what was eating him.
“God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power—Do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me, His prisoner.” (2 Tim. 1:7-8)
2. The Assignment Accomplished
We have every reason to believe that Timothy stayed at his post until Jesus called him away. He was there when Paul was in prison again and wrote 2 Timothy. Paul, in that letter called him a man of God (6:11). And ancient Christian writings tell us he was the first Bishop of Ephesus. Lets pause and look at this man who conquered his fears.
THE BACKGROUND EXPLAINED
1. Timothy the Teenager.
Timothy was afraid because he was young. Paul called him a “youth” when he wrote this letter (4:12). That means that when Paul met him 15 years before on his first missionary journey, Timothy was a child or in his early teens. may have been timid because he was half Jew and half Greek(Acts 16:3), and because of prejudice didn’t feel like he fit in anywhere.
The Witness of Paul’s Suffering? It was this trip through Asia Minor when Paul was stoned and left for dead, like a dog, by the side of the road in Lystra (Acts 13-14). There he met Timothy, who had been raised in the Jewish faith by his mother Eunice and his grandmother, Lois (2 Tim. 1). Many Bible teachers like to think it was in their home, and by their loving hands, that Paul was nursed back to health. If so, Timothy, a young boy, looked on. Paul grew to love this boy more than any other person in the world. He became the son Paul never had.
2. Timothy the Preacher.
1. About three years later Paul returned on his second journey. He found that Timothy was admired by the church (Acts 16:1-5).
2. The Holy Spirit, through Paul, called Timothy to the gospel ministry. Paul and perhaps the Pastors in that area laid hands on him, and it was prophesied that Timothy had a special gift from God. (4:13-14; 2 Tim. 1:6)
3. Timothy the Companion of Paul.
For the next fifteen years (Acts 16-28), Timothy was Paul’s friend, son, companion and gopher. He was probably shy and liked living in Paul’s shadow, but Paul believed in him. He gave him this tough assignment and called him, in this letter “A man of God” (1 Tim.6:11).
4. Timothy the Soldier.
And Timothy became just that. He stayed in Ephesus and did his job for God, despite his fears. He was there when Paul was about to die.
It is not fear that makes us cowards, but giving in to our fears. The true hero is the person who is afraid but does his or her duty. You may be afraid to live for Christ at work and to witness in a normal and non-combative way. Who isn’t? But as a private in God’s army we are all to conquer our fears and do the task at hand.
5. Timothy the Victor.
Timothy passed the test. When Paul was in prison, awaiting death, Timothy was still in Ephesus, doing his job for Jesus. Courage is not the absence of fear it is doing our duty in spite of fear. If fear of witnessing stopped every frightened Christian there world be no witnessing.
Conclusion: The easiest thing to do is to quit. All Pastors feel like it, just like many of their members, who are caught up in the American rat race. When Pastor John Bisagno retired he wrote a book for young Pastors, “Letters to Timothy”. In it he noted how many Pastors who started out with him had fallen by the wayside. Some burned out; some were fired; some had money problems; some had women problems; and some just quit. He challenges young men to stay close to God, to pay their bills, to run from any flirtation and make your goal to be “Faithful to the end.” Its so easy to get discouraged when we get older because we find we are not all that “special”. We find God wanted to use us in ordinary ministries. We also find that the important thing is not how much we do for Him. What kind of parent is that? The important thing is how close we are to Him, and how much we trust and obey Him.
