I Timothy #1
Hold Fast
CHCC: April 15, 2007
I Timothy 1
INTRODUCTION:
In the early 1900’s this ad appeared in a London Newspaper: “Men wanted for a hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.”
Would YOU answer that ad? Well, thousands of men did. The man who put out the ad was the famous Arctic explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton. Adventurous men answered on the basis of his reputation. They knew they effort would be worth the cost and that they could trust him with their lives. I got to thinking, that is the same reason people answer the call of Christ today: we know our efforts will be worth the cost and that we can trust Him with our lives.
I wonder what kind of ad Jesus might put in a Newspaper … Men and women wanted to build my church. You will face relentless attacks from an invisible enemy. Those outside my church will oppose you, and even those within my church will misunderstand you. You will have to sacrifice your time, energy, money, ambitions, pleasures, and maybe even your life. Full payment will not be awarded until your life has ended. (Dennis Selfridge, sermoncentral.com modified)
For the next few weeks we’re going to look at a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to a young man who answered that kind of call. This young man accepted the tough assignment of leading the church in Ephesus. The letters Paul wrote to this young minister have been named for him: I and II Timothy.
I could sum up Paul’s message in I Timothy chapter 1 this way: (this is a Skidmore Paraphrase) “Dear Timothy, It sounds like you’ve got some trouble makers there at ECC (that’s Ephesus Christian Church.) They sound like a bunch of crooked lawyers… talking a bunch of legalistic legalese. They want people to think they know-it-all --- but they actually know NOTHING about the Gospel of Grace.
Well, Timothy, I could teach them a thing or two about Grace. You know my past. I was more legalistic, arrogant, and violent than those guys at ECC could think about being. It took the grace of God to change me. And that’s what it will take to change them, too.
So command them to stop their false teaching. That’s why I left you with the church at Ephesus. I know you can do it! Speak up for the gospel of grace. Fight legalism with love. And above all, hold fast to your faith.
Introduce DVD CLIP “Master and Commander:The Far Side of the World.”
There are some books and articles out recently about the “Feminization of the American Church.” The idea is that men are not involved in church like they used to be. Well, if that is true, it’s not the Bible’s fault.
One Professor of Church History gave this analysis. I think a reason some men "hate going to church" is, ironically enough, that many churches have failed to preach the Gospel. I don’t mean the Gospel of "Jesus dying for my sins." I mean the Gospel of God’s invasion into the world to Rule over to every aspect of our lives. (Sean Michael Lewis blog Tuesday, June 13, 2006)
That’s the Gospel Paul preached. Paul saw the Christian life as a battleground. In His letters he used terms of warfare and weapons and shipwrecks and battles. Paul was kind of a “man’s man” who also used comparisons to athletic events like running a race or boxing or fighting the good fight.
Paul knew Timothy was facing a critical battle at Ephesus Christian Church. Timothy was facing the kind of problem that could split a church. The root of that problem was LEGALISM. And in the Church, legalism always causes division.
1. Legalism that Divides I Timothy 1:3-11
Specifically, Paul told Timothy to command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. I Timothy 1:3-4
ECC was a multi-cultural church – mostly a mix of Jews and Greeks. Jesus Christ had United them. But now false teachers were trying to Divide them. The Greek teachings were part of Gnosticism – which was a popular religion of the day based on mysticism and “secret knowledge.” The Jews countered with Old Testament genealogies that were assigned mythological significance by some Rabbis.
In both cases, the root of the problem was Legalism. Both groups thought they had a corner on the Truth. Both groups felt superior to anyone who wasn’t in on their stuff. Both groups looked down on the others as unenlightened riff-raff. In other words, for both groups it was “my way or the highway.”
That’s always how it is with Legalism. Legalism wears many faces, but it comes down to this attitude:
· I have some special knowledge, information, or insight
· YOU need it, too
· And if you disagree with me, then you’re WRONG … because, ---obviously --- I’m RIGHT
I keep being amazed by how many church folk love to MAJOR in the MINORS … In the past I’ve seen churches split over whether or not to have kitchens in their buildings, whether or not to use Sunday school literature, which version of the Bible is “most correct.” “If the King James Version was good enough for the Apostle Paul, it’s good enough for me!”
Lately I see churches debating about whether their church should be…
· Purpose Driven, or Emergent, or Missional. (I’d join the argument --- if I could figure out what any of that means.)
· People debate whether sermons should be Expository or Topical or Narrative or Linear (I say, who cares as long as they are not over 20 minutes!)
· And they disagree on whether the Pulpit should be wood, or metal, or Plexiglas --- or gone. (And I guess you can tell what I stand behind..)
· And of course there’s the argument on whether they ought to be singing the oldies or the newbies. (I heard there’s a country song out that was a reaction to the War Between the Hymbooks and the Screens. It’s called “We don’t need no writing on the wall”)
The point is, we can waste way too much thought and energy on side issues like that --- when the REAL issue is the Gospel of Grace. We have a very real spiritual battle to fight, and we can’t afford to get sidetracked.
The sad fact is that when we stop making the Main thing the Main thing, any church is bound to wander into some form of legalism or mysticism that bypasses God’s Grace. For some reason Christians seem to be drawn in by:
· Trendy but shallow teachings that are based on pop psychology and feel-goodism
· Or if not that, they go after ministries that focus on constant signs and wonders … with lots of emotionalism, mysticism, and appeals for money-ism
· Or they are drawn toward forceful leaders with doctrines full of rules and regulations about how to dress and talk and even think
Then the next step is to decide that EVERYONE has to subscribe to their particular “brand” of religion. And if they don’t … well, they’re just plain WRONG. Furthermore, they’re not “worthy.” Maybe they’re not even saved. And we certainly can’t fellowship with them until the come around.
Legalism takes a lot of different forms. But it always has these characteristics:
· Legalism takes what is accessible and makes it unreachable.
· It takes a blessing and makes it a burden.
· It takes what is simple and makes it complex.
I saw an example this week when I started reading a free book I got at a Convention I went to recently. It’s all about simple steps to better health. Well, I got excited when I started chapter 1 because the first step was to DRINK MORE WATER. I was thinking, “Hey, how hard could THAT be?” Well, I found out how hard it could be… Let me share just a few rules for water drinking:
· Never drink Tap Water --- the Chlorine will give you Cancer, the Fluoride will give you Arthritis, and the Aluminum will give you Alzheimer’s
· Never drink Bottled Water --- the plastic bottle contaminates it, and bacteria grows when it sits around
· Most Filtered water isn’t filtered enough and Distilled water is filtered too much.
The only water you SHOULD drink is water from an Alkaline Filter with a PH above 7. It must go through a second Electrolysis Filter, creating a rich, dense, Hexagonal molecular level. (You can install this filter for a mere $200, or buy it in Glass Bottles at your nearest Health Food Store.) You need to drink 2 gallons of this magic concoction every day --- but only at room temperature, and NOT with your meals. Well, reading all that made me so thirsty I went outside and guzzled water out of my garden hose.
I can’t help but think of the Living Water that Jesus offers. How sad when Legalism makes such a simple, sweet, gift seem complicated and difficult and unattainable! “You can have this Living Water, but only if you get it at OUR church in OUR way. It will help if you LOOK like us and TALK like us and THINK like us. Oh yeah, and by the way, you have to clean yourself up before you can have the water.”
We need to offer the Water of Life freely the way Jesus did. We need to keep our message Simple. We need to avoid Legalism like the plague. But we can’t look at the danger of Legalism without looking at the danger on the other side …
… I’ll call it Permissivism. Permissivism says, “No one can be sure anything is right or wrong because there’s actually no such THING as right and wrong.”
Paul didn’t want the church to climb out of the ditch of Legalism on one side of the road only to fall into the ditch of Permissivism on the other side. That’s why, in verse 8, he reminded Timothy: We know the law is good if it is used lawfully.
This was a clever play on words … I think it shows Paul’s sense of humor. But he went on with a very “un-funny” list of sins when he told Timothy, We know that law is made not for the righteous, but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers --- and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel … I Timothy 1:9-11
Our God is not an “anything goes” kind of God. His Law stands in judgment against all lawbreakers. But God’s Law will not condemn Believers. When we come to Christ in faith, we come out from under the Law. That’s what salvation means. We are saved from the Condemnation of the Law. Our sins have been covered by the Grace of God. That’s what Unites us in God’s Church.
2. Grace that Unites I Timothy 1:12-20
The task of Leaders in any Church is to guard against anything that sidetracks us from the Gospel of Grace. We don’t need some new, popular teaching “du jour.” We simply need to hold fast to our faith in Christ. Paul summed it up in verse 15 when he told Timothy: Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…
That is the Gospel in its purest form. It is Amazing in its Simplicity. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. If you want to be “legalistic” about anything, here’s what everyone in God’s Church needs to agree about: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners …
Say it with me: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
That is what we can declare without compromise. That’s the Truth worth fighting for. These other things that we spend so much time debating and arguing are mere side issues compared to the Saving Grace of God poured out on us through Christ Jesus.
The folks at ECC needed that reminder. Here at CHCC, we need the same reminder.
· We have been saved by Trusting, not Trying
· … by His Mercy … not our Merit;
· … by His Dying, not our Doing; (Dennis Selfridge, sermoncentral.com, modified)
Paul held himself up as an example of the Grace of God. He went from a blaspheming, violent persecutor of Christians to a Missionary of the Gospel. Paul knew that the Grace of God is made visible through changed lives.
I once heard someone describe a Preacher he knew this way: “He’s such a good preacher he should never get out of the pulpit; but he’s such a poor Christian, he should never get INTO the pulpit in the first place.” That’s enough to make any preacher stop and think.
But the truth is, it’s not just preachers who represent Christ to the world. Your family, your friends, your neighbors and co-workers will believe the Gospel … if and when they see that God has transformed your life.
CONCLUSION
Paul ended this section of his letter with a tone of urgency. Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight. As you do, hold fast to faith and a good conscience. I Timothy 1:18-19
Paul charged Timothy to hold on to the Gospel of Grace … Grace that had turned his own life around. It is the Truth that is worth fighting for. And as we fight that good fight, we need to hold fast to our faith in Christ Jesus who came into the world to save sinners.
