"Hold True To The Word Of God" Series

*HOLD TRUE TO THE WORD OF GOD!*

1 Timothy 1:1-7

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INTRODUCTION:

1.) As we begin this letter this morning, The Apostle Paul was writing to a young man in the ministry named Timothy.

2.) Really, much of this epistle we could describe as the syllabus for a class in Practical ministry for the local church

3.) This morning, and for the next several weeks, I would like us to examine the epistle and see many valuable teachings and lessons, not just for a minister, but for the entire body of Christ.

I.) DON’T BE CARELESS ABOUT THE WORD OF GOD.

-- 1 Tim. 1:3

1.) Some were teaching “false doctrine.”

A.) The Apostle Paul had even predicted this would happen at Ephesus.

aa.) Acts 20:29-30

B.) One of the primary reasons for Timothy to be there in Ephesus was to deal with false teachings and teachers that had crept into the church.

C.) Part of the charge that Paul had given to Timothy was to restore the teachings of the church to those in the Word of God.

ca.) One of the goals of the Church of Christ or Christian Church is this very same plea that Paul had given to Timothy.

caa.) It is the goal and determination of going beyond man-made creeds and doctrines, and getting back to just the Inspired Word of God, as our sole rule of faith and doctrine.

cab.) One of the slogans of the Restoration Movement has always been “Where the Bible speaks we speak; where the Bible is silent, we are silent.”

2.) If it doesn’t line up with all of God’s Word it is not God’s Word.

A.) For me as a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and for you as part of this flock, we both have a responsibility to ourselves and to God, to examine and study the Scriptures, to see that what is being taught and preached is in alignment with the Word of God.

B.) One thing I have always done in my preaching is to have my Scripture references just listed, but usually not written out in my sermon notes.

ba.) The reason I have always done that, is because I intentionally want the congregation to be reading and verifying the Written Word of God even as I am preaching.

bb.) I do not want you to hear and merely take my word as being Scripture, but to be like the Bereans of old who challenged even the words of the Apostles against what had already been recorded in the Word of God.

bc.) Today many congregations with video equipment will have the Scripture printed out on the screen for all to see.

bca.) I have very mixed feelings about that practice.

bcb.) On the one hand, it is good that the people see the printed Word of God in front of them.

bcc.) Yet at the same time, I feel it is a practice that may have helped to bring laziness, to the people of God in searching the Scriptures for themselves.

bcd.) It is a practice that makes it very easy for the one in the pew to listen to and to readily accept everything the minister says without validating it for themselves in the Scriptures.

3.) “Don’t devote yourselves to myths.”

--verse 4

A.) If we are not reading and studying the Word of God for ourselves, it becomes easy for false teachings to come into the church as it was in Ephesus, where Paul had left Timothy to carry on his ministry.

B.) One of the major lines of false teachings that was coming into the church of the first Century was Gnosticism.

ba.) Basically in a nutshell, the Gnostics believed the body was evil, and the spirit good.

bb.) Therefore any sin in the body was excusable because the body that participated in sin was evil and separate from the spirit of the person that was considered to be good.

bc.) It was the teaching of myths, and false teaching that was leading people away from God and His Word.

4.) Don’t devote yourselves to “endless genealogies.”

A.) These genealogies may even have been a reference to a Jewish element within the church.

B.) Jewish families were very meticulous in keeping accurate genealogical records, and histories so they could trace their lineage back to Abraham.

C.) Just because Christianity has come into being, does not automatically remove the Jewish mindset that you had to be able to trace your family tree back to the Patriarch Abraham for your salvation.

5.) Paul said that “these myths and genealogies promote controversies rather than God’s Work.” (verse 4b.)

A.) God’s work is accomplished by faith in Christ, and a conviction from the Word of God.

6.) It matters not if we come to Christ as a Gentile, or as a Jew.