Stop Suffering Shipwrecks in Your Life
1 Tim. 1:18-20
Sept. 7, 2008 FBC, Chester Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction
This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son , in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, 19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. 20 Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. 1 Tim 1:18-20 (NASB)
I Accepting the charge
A There comes a time when a believer must simply go into battle, get into the fight.
1 Paul had poured himself into Timothy (preached, prayed over, prophesied about)
a Paul couldn’t do Timothy’s fighting for him.
b V. 18: “YOU fight the good fight...”
c You may fight (present subjunctive aorist) the good fight...
aa The action is accomplished by the subject of the verb
bb Present subjunctive means a continuous or repeated action, without implying anything about the time of the action.
cc (IL) A soldier may be called to service in Iraq, then Afghanistan: more battles, wars, conflicts, fights.
dd You’ll have the occasion to fight several wars, battles
2 Christian, you’ve got to do your own fighting/battles/war.
a People can pray for you, provide intercession, give godly advice, wise counsel.
b There are spiritual battles that are fought only by you.
aa Personal responsibility (subject of the verb!)
bb The battle belongs to the Lord, and so do you!
c Don’t be shocked when you move from one fight into another one.
B The enemy/opponent you fight against has two major goals:
1 To damn as many people as possible
a And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Cor 4:3-4 (NASB)
aa Blinded the lost to the gospel, love of Jesus Christ, God’s redemptive plan
bb They believe in other ways than The Way
b Why? I believe Satan thinks his only hope is to damn so many people that God will reverse/withdraw His plan of redemption, and thus prove to be unrighteous (from the book Vanquishing the Enemy by Ron Phillips).
2 To neutralize the believer by defeating and discouraging them
a If he can get us weary from battle, win a few...we can forget out battle position in Christ.
aa He can try to get us to leave, or fall asleep at our post.
bb My tour of duty won’t end until I die or hear revelry
cc He can try to get our hearts out of the battle
b Our battles are never bigger than our Daddy; the devil’s hatred for us is never deeper than the Father’s love for us!
c We cannot peacefully exist with the enemy.
aa (IL) Joy Adamson, naturalist/author, was the wife of a game warden in East Africa. One day in 1956 her husband brought home 3 lion cubs after their mom had been killed. She nurtured them until they were grown and released. She told the story of Elsa, one of the lionesses, in a book, Born Free, followed by Living Free and Forever Free. Joy apparently forgot she was dealing with wild beasts, and at the age of 69, 30 miles from a phone, she was attacked and killed by a lion. The animals she had befriended became her enemy.
bb He will eternally seek to destroy and shipwreck us.
cc Do not ever think you can tame the devil, the tormentor
3 This is YOUR battle, fight, war
There is a real battle that we have a responsibility to fight, but we also have a responsibility to keep our head above water, too (transitional sentence).
II Avoid the shipwreck
A Paul didn’t deny the fact that some people allowed their faith to be shipwrecked.
1 Shipwrecked means things had broken apart, slipped into the abyss.
a Paul mentions two people by name in v. 20:
aa Hymenaeus (said the resurrection had already passed But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene . Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. 2 Tim 2:16-18 (NASB))
bb Alexander (the metalworker), who did him great harm. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 2 Tim 4:14 (NASB)
b We could probably name folks whose faith had splintered and broken apart...maybe it’s us.
2 Paul didn’t speak of any Christian life that doesn’t involve serious and moral striving.
a Without that striving, they hit rocks, or were torpedoed.
b Paul told Timothy to hold onto two things:
aa Faith: What you believe, sound, correct doctrine
bb Good conscience: behavior, conduct, correct living
c If we don’t keep correct doctrine and living, we’ll know disaster.
B We live in a time when staying afloat is becoming more and more difficult.
1 In our time, anyone who declares God’s truth is considered narrow-minded and intolerant.
a Ever since the serpent said, “Did God really say...?” ( Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, ’You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?" Gen 3:1 (NASB)), to the false prophets and foreign priests in the time of Elijah, the false teachers Timothy corrected at Ephesus...anyone who speaks God’s truth has been ridiculed, mocked, and scorned.
b The sanctity of marriage and life, adultery, divorce, drunkenness, homosexuality, tithing...did God really say?
c Christian, you have no choice but to accept these as truth, because they’re not open for personal or idiosyncratic interpretation.
d The moment we stop and let go, we drift into dangerous waters.
2 Not only do you have to believe right, but also live right.
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