DYNAMICS That EFFECT CHRISTIAN SERVICE-III—1Timothy 1:18-20
Attention:
Jan. 13, 2012—Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Italian cruise ship Concordia, fled his sinking cruise liner before all the passengers were off. His negligence led to the deaths of 32 of the 4200 passengers & crew & earned him the name, Captain Coward.
Italian cruise ship captain Francesco Schettino began his new job as a bus driver yesterday...Describe picture of leaning school bus being towed out of a flooded street!

The school board should have been aware of the Dynamics that Effected Schettino’s work ethic.
Likewise there are Dynamics that Effect our Christian Service.
Need:
Dynamics effecting Christian service
Paul warned Timothy of the dynamics required to fulfill his charge.
Believers must be aware of the dynamics surrounding the fulfillment of their Christian service.
What are some dynamics effecting/pertinent to/ Christian service?
7 dynamics vital/pertinent to Christian service.
We learned previously that Christian service must embrace the...
1. TRAINING Dynamic(:18a)
2. DECLARATIVE Dynamic(18b)
3. WAR(RING) Dynamic(:18c)
4. FAITH Dynamic(:19a)
5—Christian service must embrace the...
CONSCIENCE Dynamic(:19b)
Explanation: (:19b)
:19—“having faith & a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck,”
In order to sustain a spiritual “warfare” which is proper in the eyes of God, it must also be supplied & maintained thru one’s “good conscience.” This of course is in opposition to a bad conscience, so again(:18) the actual quality of the conscience is what is vital to God’s honor.
A conscience is that which God has granted to every person(believer & unbeliever). Everyone has a conscience! It is our ‘early-warning-system.’ It is what initially causes us to recognize that we are approaching a boundary God has established.
“The Holy Spirit helps us interpret the signals the conscience sends us.”—Charles F. Stanley
We either voluntarily or involuntarily(unknowingly/unwittingly) ‘train’ or ‘program’ our conscience.
It is much like a surveillance computer which is used to monitor & recognize, let’s say, an intruder on your property. You may program it to use sophisticated facial recognition technology or merely to detect motion.
Thus on the one hand, the conscience can be an unreliable source of warning(depending on what we put into it—its training). However, on the other, it can become a great ally of personal righteousness in my service to God(depending on what I put into it—its training). A reliable conscience does not make you righteous before God, but it AIDS that process by making you aware of right vs. wrong in God’s eyes.
A lost person does not openly accept God’s determinations of right & wrong. Their conscience is subjectively trained to recognize ‘what works for them’ personally(to the exclusion of what might work for others). Its training is limited to recognize & learn from civil behaviors only...so that its warning only warns that there may be consequences from actions directly related to their physical world & the outward social relationships within it....& NOT from a desire to honor God.
A “good conscience” is honed & sharpened, by obedience to the Holy Spirit, thruout one’s Christian life time. A ‘dis-honorable’ conscience can be made “good” thru continually adaptive personal measures making one’s flesh submissive to God’s will. Thereby the conscience becomes trained & exercised in godly righteousness.
The “good” of the “good conscience” means that its constitution is such that it has become of honorably excellent use to God & His infallible design.
“Good”(See :18 kalov)—agayov—Adj.—1)Of good constitution or nature; 2) Useful, salutary; 3) Good, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy; 4) Excellent, distinguished; 5) Upright, honorable. Strong—"Good" (in any sense, often as noun).
“Conscience”—suneidhsiv—N. f.—1)The consciousness of anything; 2) The soul as distinguishing between what is morally good & bad, prompting to do the former & shun the latter, commending one, condemning the other. Strong—Co-perception, i.e. Moral consciousness.
From—suneidw—V.—To see completely or To know in one's mind or with one's self, to be conscience of.
Argumentation:
Heb. 9:13-14—“For if the blood of bulls & goats & the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
1Cor. 8:4-13—“Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse. But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat[sacrificial flesh], lest I make my brother stumble.”
A wounded conscience can cause a person to enter into sin.
Rom. 14:13-23—“Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.”
Heb. 10:22-23—“let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience & our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
*Mat. 6:22-23—““The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
If your conscience allows the wrong things in, then we will hold to those things consciously.
Acts 24:15-16—““I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just & the unjust. “This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God & men.”
*1Tim. 4:1-5—“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits & doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, & commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe & know the truth. For every creature of God is good, & nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God & prayer.”
Illustration:
To my knowledge, I have never had a virus on my computer/I have a firewall—I stay away from questionable sites—I am concerned that the computer is not compromised/CONSCIENCE Dynamic
Application:
?You Embraced the Dynamics of Good CONSCIENCE regarding your Christian service?
?You Embrace this Dynamics of Christian Service?
6—Christian service must embrace the...
REJECTIVE Dynamic(:19c)
Explanation: (:19c)
:19—“having faith & a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck,”
Philosophy which separates the spirit from the body to such an extent that it doesn’t matter what indulgences we entertain.—Smoke till your lungs no longer function; Drink till your liver solidifies; Pop pills till your mind is frazzelled; Sexually promiscuous till you have every STD available & children you don't love & won’t claim...
This “good warfare”(:18) which is waged by a life given to faith in spirit & truth, is the very warfare in which certain noteworthy people(:20) are no longer engaged. They are no longer engaged as they have “rejected” God’s truth. The result of such a rejection has led to a “faith” that is comparable to a “shipwreck.”
Such “shipwreck” occurs in the same manner as a ship is personally driven into waters of unknown & questionable safety, solely for the sake of personal gratification. The picture is that of a ship, of incomprehensible worth & upon which many others are dependent, becoming foundered on the reef or driven onto the shallows or beached at the whim of a careless & thus faulty commander.
This must be taken into the spiritual realm concerning the treatment of the Christian faith by those who cannot “wage the good warfare” as their faith is unsure & whose conscience has remained indiscriminate between the roller-coaster schooling of the world & that of God’s truth.
“Some”—tiv—Pron.—1) A certain, a certain one; 2) Some, some time, a while. Strong—an enclitic indefinite pronoun; Some or any person or object.
“Rejected/Put away”—apwyeomai—To thrust away, push away, repel; 2) To thrust away from one's self, to drive away from one's self. Used 6X. Strong—from apo a primary particle; "off," i.e. away (from something near) & the middle voice of wyew or wyw(to shove); To push off, figuratively, To reject.
“Concerning”—peri—About, concerning, on account of, because of, around, near. Strong—properly, Through (all over), i.e. Around; figuratively, With respect to; used in various applications, of place, cause or time (with the genitive case denoting the subject or occasion or superlative point; with the accusative case the locality, circuit, matter, circumstance or general period).
“Suffered Shipwreck”—nauagew—V.—To suffer shipwreck. Strong—To be shipwrecked (stranded, "navigate"), literally or figuratively. Used 2X.
From—agw—V.—1)To lead, take with one; 2) To lead; 3) To pass a day, keep or celebrate a feast, etc.; 4) To go, depart.
Argumentation:
Wreck/ruin your life
1Tim. 4:1-3—“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits & doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, & commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe & know the truth.”
1Cor. 11:17-19—“Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, & in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.”
1Tim. 6:6-11—“Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, & it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food & clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation & a snare, & into many foolish & harmful lusts which drown men in destruction & perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, & pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things & pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.”
2Tim. 4:2-5—“Preach the word! Be ready in season & out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering & teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; & they will turn their ears away from the truth, & be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
Illustration:
NC’s coast is called the Graveyard of the Atlantic/It holds literally thousands of shipwrecks/
Shipwreck occurs when you become oblivious to your surroundings/Unconcerned about the hidden reefs in murky waters/The ship within which your life is contained & protected & within which you move thru life is destroyed—The doctrine you hold to...the beliefs you hold true...the teaching you profess...that by which you gain sustenance & security/REJECTIVE Dynamic
When a teen is reprimanded for watching or listening to certain videos or music/Many teenagers will say, “Oh, Its just a movie/pretend!”/But that is not reality!/They are very effectively training their consciences to do 2 things simultaneously—1)Accept the things of the world, which in turn,2)Supplants the things of God!/When we have gravitated away from God, we only gravitate toward the world & thus the Prince of the Power of the Air himself!/Out decisions are no longer built upon God’s voice but upon our flesh speaking/Wreck your life/REJECTIVE Dynamic
The computer illustration/To my knowledge, I have never had a virus on my computer/I have a firewall—I stay away from questionable sites—I am concerned that the computer is not compromised...
HOWEVER....If I frequent Pornography sites, Black market sites...Download music for free which I should pay for, then I invite everything which such a mentality offers—A conscience programmed in the world’s standards!/REJECTIVE Dynamic
Application:
?You Embraced the Dynamics of proper REJECTIVE regarding your Christian service?
?You Embrace this Dynamics of Christian Service?
7—Christian service must embrace...
RESTORATIVE Dynamic(:20)
Explanation: (:20)
:20—“of whom are Hymenaeus & Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.”
Paul now brings to Timothy’s attention two men of whom he is no doubt familiar. He calls their specific names & makes mention of a fact by which He distinguished his apostolic power thru them.
Paul had at one point decisively, “delivered” the two men, “Hymenaeus” & “Alexander” “to Satan.” The purpose of this was not for retaliation but that the two might own their “blasphemy” & not enter into such sin again. They would then be able to be brought back into orthodox Christendom(See 1Cor. 5:5).
Paul uses the phrase “delivered to Satan” in reference to a sin of immorality accepted within the Corinthian church(1Cor. 5:1, 5, 9-11).
1Cor 5:1, 5, 9-11—“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, & such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles--that a man has his father’s wife!”.....“deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”.....“I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person.”
There Paul also fully gave the guilty person into the hands of Satan for the purpose of the “destruction of the flesh.” Such an action held potential to accomplish the “salvation” of the guilty one’s “spirit,” even though his body would be ruined. Our spirit is the very disembodied essence of who we are individually.
Mat. 10:28—““And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul & body in hell.”
Job is one whose body had also been delivered to Satan but was specifically prevented from taking his life. Upon gaining such permission, Satan wasted no time in wracking Job’s body with disease-like destruction so that his life became a misery:
Job 2:3-10—“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless & upright man, one who fears God & shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” So Satan answered the LORD & said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, & touch his bone & his flesh, & he will surely curse You to Your face!” And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, & struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God & die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, & shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
Paul obviously reveals his apostolic power in the above incidences. This is power which we cannot approach today, as we have not been invested with such power as apostleship. At the same time, truly God-directed imprecatory prayer can attain this result thru anyone of integrative faith.
The “good warfare” is hereby delineated as of utmost concern for all Christians, & particularly so for undershepherds(Heb. 13:17). It is task to which we must devote our personal attention & energies. Integrity is a beautiful adornment to the Gospel of Christ.
Heb. 13:17—“Obey those who rule over you, & be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy & not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”
2Pet. 1:12-15—“For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know & are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.”
“Hymenaeus”—Umenaiov—“Belonging to marriage.”
2Tim. 2:17—“And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus & Philetus are of this sort, "who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; & they overthrow the faith of some.”
“Alexander”—Alexandrov—A common name. This is not necessarily Alexander the coppersmith of Tim. 4:14-15:
2Tim. 4:14-15—“Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.”
“Delivered”—paradidwmi—To give into the hands (of another); 2) To give over into (one's) power or use; 3) To commit, to commend; 4) To deliver verbally; 5) To permit allow.
“Learn/Taught”—paideuw—To train children; 2)To chastise.
“Blaspheme”—blasfhmew—To speak reproachfully, rail at, revile, calumniate, blaspheme; 2) to be evil spoken of, reviled, railed at.
Argumentation:
*Js. 5:19-20—“Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, & someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death & cover a multitude of sins.”
2Cor. 2:1-11—“But I determined this within myself, that I would not come again to you in sorrow. For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy, having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. For out of much affliction & anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you. But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent--not to be too severe. This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive & comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
Some of you here know absolutely that you have misgivings & unforgiveness toward some of this very body of believers! There are some who have left the church & you have never sought their reinstatement. Some who were weak in Christ & didn’t understand about the reasons for the church’s past troubles. There were words exchanged which were painful, hurtful & divisive. Time does NOT heal..but time does give us opportunity for personal reflection. What heals is none other than the Holy Spirit who when allowed to work in our lives, brings us to the unity of the faith, calling all of us to rally around our One Lord & One God.
1Cor. 8:6, 11-12—“yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, & we for Him; & one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, & through whom we live.....But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, & wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.”
Eph. 4:1-6—“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness & gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body & one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God & Father of all, who is above all, & through all, & in you all.”
Gal. 5:24-6:5—“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions & desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, & so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, & then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, & not in another. For each one shall bear his own load.”
What could I be tempted to do?...To write the brother or sister off as done for, never to be approached again!
Heb. 12:12-15—“Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, & the feeble knees, & make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all people, & holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, & by this many become defiled;”
Illustration:
Home restoration/The contractor(the one called by Christ) approaches the ‘rejected/unfit/disfellowshipped’ house/He sees fit to repair that which is broken/Remove the rotted timbers, crumbling dry wall, leaking pipes, dated electric lines/BUT these must all be replaced & mended & confirmed by the contractor(the one called upon by Christ)!/RESTORATIVE Dynamic
Application:
?You Embraced the Dynamics of proper RESTORATION regarding your Christian service?
?You Embrace this Dynamics of Christian Service?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
The school board should have been aware of the Dynamics that Effected Francesco Schettino’s work ethic.
Action:
Christian service must embrace the...
5. CONSCIENCE Dynamic(:19b)
6. REJECTIVE Dynamic(:19c)
7. RESTORATIVE Dynamic(:20)
1. TRAINING Dynamic(:18a)
2. DECLARATIVE Dynamic(18b)
3. WAR(RING) Dynamic(:18c)
4. FAITH Dynamic(:19a)
Presented 03/18/2012pm to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
