A. The story is told about a shipwrecked sailor who had spent several years on a deserted island, completely alone.
1. Then one morning, he was thrilled to see a ship offshore and a smaller vessel coming towards him.
2. When the boat arrived on the beach, the officer in charge handed the marooned sailor a bundle of newspapers and told him: “The captain said to read through these newspapers, and then let us know if you still want to be rescued.”
3. I got a chuckle out of that story, because with the way things are in the world today, a person might choose to stay on a deserted island rather than return to the chaos and conflict of our world today.
B. But in reality, shipwrecks are not a laughing matter.
1. And during wartime, many ships are lost from being hit by torpedoes, or by being hit by other kinds of ammunition.
2. But additionally, other ships are lost during warfare because of carelessness and human error, and when that happens, they end up being dashed against some rocks, or run aground in shallow water.
C. Perhaps you have figured out that the reason I’m starting with a discussion of warfare and shipwrecks is because both of those ideas show up in our Scripture reading for today.
1. The spiritual war is real and is never ending.
2. And tragically there are many casualties in the spiritual war.
3. Many people have shipwrecked their faith and have suffered a spiritual death.
D. Let’s look again at the verses that we are going to explore today from 1 Timothy: 18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies previously made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the good fight, 19 having faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and have shipwrecked the faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme. (1 Tim. 1:18-20)
1. This is a short paragraph consisting of only three verses, but it is a section filled with important spiritual truths.
2. After Paul spent the last section rejoicing in the difference that the Gospel makes in the lives of people, and especially in his own life, Paul returned to his primary purpose and theme – the need for Timothy, the young preacher, to deal with the false teachers in Ephesus.
3. Paul understood that Timothy’s victory in the spiritual war would not be easy.
4. Standing for the truth is always a challenging battle.
5. And Paul knew that Timothy would need encouragement to “fight the good fight.”
E. We notice in verse 18, that Paul brought up again the fact that Timothy was his son in the faith.
1. Paul wrote: Timothy, my son, I am giving you this instruction…” (vs. 18).
2. Paul used the word instruction back in verse 5 when he wrote: “the goal of this instruction is love.”
3. I am told that the noun form of this word “is strictly used of commands received from a superior.” (Vine, Unger, and White, pg. 96)
4. In a military context, “it conveys a sense of urgent obligation.” (Guthrie, 77)
5. Paul was not giving Timothy a suggestion, rather he was issuing an urgent command from a superior officer – from a spiritual father.
F. And what was the command?
1. Certainly, it could include all the commands that Paul gave Timothy, but I think it applies to the special task Paul gave to Timothy for his ministry in Ephesus: “Remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach false doctrine.” (1:3)
G. Paul mentioned that this command to Timothy was in accordance with the prophesies previously made concerning Timothy.
1. The gift of prophesy was part of God’s arrangement for guiding the church in its infancy, before the New Testament was written.
2. Paul did not specify what the prophesy about Timothy was, because Paul was writing to Timothy and Timothy knew the content of the prophesy.
3. We can assume that the prophesy was consistent with Paul’s present charge to Timothy.
4. And we can assume that being reminded of the prophesy would lead Timothy to be inspired and encouraged, and would enable him to more effectively engage in the spiritual battle.
H. It is possible that these prophesies related to Timothy’s selection by Paul to be part of his mission team and his subsequent “setting-apart” by the elders of the church in Lystra.
1. In chapter 4, verse 14 of this letter, Paul urged Timothy not to neglect the gift which was given to him through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on Timothy.
2. We can imagine that solemn ceremony when the elders laid their hands on Timothy and prophesied over him and gifted him.
3. Whatever was said by the elders over Timothy and whatever gift was imparted to him surely gave Timothy hope and strength and courage when Paul reminded him about it.
I. So, we don’t know what the prophesies were, but Timothy did.
1. And by being reminded of those prophesies, Timothy would have realized that God had foreseen this moment and that God would not have commissioned him if he could not do the job.
2. And with God’s help, Timothy could win the victory and complete his assignment.
J. Paul challenged Timothy to fight the good fight.
1. In chapter 6 of 1 Timothy, Paul will repeat the challenge: “fight the good fight of faith” (6:12).
2. The word “good” implies “noble” and “praiseworthy.”
3. As you know, there are some fights that are not “good fights,” including things like world wars and national battles, neighborhood skirmishes and congregational clashes, and also domestic disturbances.
4. The good fight that Paul had in mind was a battle to defend the truths of God.
K. In order to engage in the good fight, we need the right kind of weapons.
1. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he reminded them that the weapons of our warfare are not of the world (2 Cor 10:4), and they are not physical, rather they are spiritual.
2. In Ephesians 6, Paul gave an extensive description of our spiritual armor made up of the spiritual qualities and powers that we need for battle, things like: truth and righteousness, faith and salvation, the Gospel and the Word of God, and prayer.
L Here in 1 Tim. 1:19, Paul only mentioned two spiritual qualities that Timothy needed for victory: faith and a good conscience.
1. There is no definite article connected to “faith” so it is likely that Paul wasn’t talking about “the faith,” but was more likely talking about Timothy’s personal faith.
a. The apostle John wrote: “This is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith” (1 Jn. 5:4).
2. Paul also mentioned “A good conscience.”
a. The conscience is the God-given ability within us to distinguish between good and evil.
b. The word Paul used here for “good” is different from the one he used for “good” fight in verse 18.
c. The word associated with “good” fight meant “noble” and “praiseworthy.”
d. The word associated with “good” conscience meant “excellence.”
e. A “good and excellent” conscience is one that is free from guilt.
f. It is a clear conscience that comes as a result of Christ’s cleansing blood and walking in God’s ways.
3. To triumph over evil, both we and Timothy, will need faith and a good conscience.
a. Faith and a good conscience go together.
b. Faith has to do with what a person thinks and conscience has to do with how a person lives.
4. Satan can attack a person’s beliefs or tempt them to wrong behavior.
a. If Satan causes a person to doubt, then they will often slip into wrong behavior, because why live a godly life if you have doubts that there is a God, or that it makes a difference how you live.
b. But if Satan leads someone into sin, their conscience will prick them and they will have to make a choice: they can either abandon their sin or abandon their faith.
c. Sadly, many people choose the abandon their faith, rather than abandon their sin.
d. That is the case in our day, and that was the case in Paul’s day.
M. Notice that that was the point Paul was making in verse 19: that some people have rejected faith and a good conscience and consequently have shipwrecked the faith.
1. The word Paul used for “rejected” is a strong word that expresses a deliberate decision to ignore the conscience and aggressively push aside its warnings.
2. We enter into dangerous territory when we refuse to listen to our conscience.
N. The metaphor of a shipwreck is a powerful one.
1. We all can imagine the terror and destruction of a shipwreck and how vulnerable we are in the midst of deep and turbulent water.
2. Paul had personally been shipwrecked on at least 4 occasions.
3. One of those shipwrecks is described in vivid detail in Acts 27 and perhaps that’s what came to Paul’s mind when he used the term.
4. The ship Paul was on ran aground on a sandbar and was dashed to pieces by the pounding waves.
5. As the ship came apart, everyone, including Paul had to jump in the water and cling to broken pieces of the ship as they tried to make it safely to shore.
O In verse 20, Paul moved from the abstract to the concrete by naming two men who had shipwrecked their faith.
1. So far in chapter 1, Paul had been vague about the individuals whom Timothy needed to correct.
a. In verse 3, Paul said that “certain people” needed to be told not to teach false doctrine.
b. In verse 6. Paul said that “some have departed from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
2. But then in verse 20, Paul mentioned a few of the “certain people” and the “some people” by name – he named Hymenaeus and Alexander.
a. Hymenaeus is also mentioned in Paul’s second letter to Timothy, where Paul says that Hymenaeus was teaching that the resurrection had already taken place.
b. By spreading that false doctrine, he had “upset the faith of some.”
c. We are not sure who “Alexander” was.
d. Alexander was a common name, probably because of the fame of Alexander the Great.
P. Paul said that he had handed Alexander and Hymenaeus over to Satan so that they would be taught not to blaspheme.
1. The phrase “handed over to Satan” was Paul’s way of referring to church disciple or disfellowship, or some call it excommunication.
2. Paul used the same terminology in 1 Corinthians 5 where Paul said that the unrepentant brother was to be delivered to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved.
3. In reality, there are only two places a person can be: a person can be in the kingdom of God, or they can be in the domain of darkness where Satan rules.
4. When a person becomes a Christian they leave the domain of darkness and enter into God’s kingdom.
5. But when a Christian persists in sin and refuses to repent, then they must be put out of God’s kingdom and be sent back into the dominion of darkness.
Q. What is the purpose of this church discipline and disfellowship?
1. It was certainly not to cause the person to give up and give in to Satan’s temptation and rule.
2. The primary reason for withdrawing fellowship is restorative.
a. The hope is that the person will miss the fellowship, encouragement and support of the church family.
b. That when they realize they are ultimately no longer connected to God and God’s family, they will want to repent and return.
3. Here in verse 20, Paul said the purpose was so that the erring might be taught not to blaspheme.
a. To blaspheme is to speak evil of – Hymenaeus and Alexander had likely been speaking evil of Paul and his ministry.
b. But because Paul was commissioned by Jesus Himself, to speak against Paul was to speak against Jesus who sent and empowered Paul.
R. Did the spiritual disciple of Hymenaeus and Alexander have the desired effect?
1. It apparently had little effect on Hymenaeus because in Paul’s second letter to Timothy, we see that Hymenaeus was still upsetting Christians with his false teachings.
2. Because we don’t really know who Alexander was, we don’t know if he repented.
3. Church discipline helps some people, but not all.
a. It helps make some people better, but it causes others to just be bitter.
4. The church disciple exercised against the man in 1 Corinthians 5 caused him to repent and return to the fellowship, and thankfully, some people who we have disfellowshipped later did return to the Lord.
S. Thankfully, we have not had to exercise church discipline against very many people over the years.
1. I have noticed that most people who stop living the way they know God wants them to live, just disfellowship themselves – they stop having any involvement with the church family.
2. But if they don’t disfellowship themselves, then we have to disfellowship them for the followship reasons:
a. First, we must exercise church discipline because God has commanded it (Take some time later and look at these instructions Mt. 18:17; 1 Cor. 5: 2 Thess. 3:14-15; Tit. 3:10).
b. Second, we must exercise church discipline because it is the only way to help save the person who is living in sin.
1. They will likely continue to live in sin if we don’t take a strong stand.
3. Third, we must exercise church discipline because it protects the church in two ways.
a. It protects the church from the negative influence of the person living in sin – a little levin works through the whole batch – that’s the way yeast works – it spreads.
b. It protects the church by sending the clear message to everyone that the church does not approve of that kind of behavior – it is not what Christianity is all about.
3. In the case of Hymenaeus and Alexander, Paul’s action said to the congregation at Ephesus, “What these men are teaching is error – and error cannot be tolerated.”
T. What important lessons can we apply to ourselves from this short section of verses?
1. First, we are reminded that the spiritual battle rages on.
a. None of us can escape the battle.
b. It is not a short-term battle, but is a life-long one.
c. We must be equipped and prepared for the battle.
d. And we must look to God for the help we need to win the victory.
2. Second, we are reminded that false teachers and false teaching continue to be present.
a. The devil’s efforts to destroy or discount God’s Word and God’s church have not diminished in our day.
b. A primary task of God’s people is to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to all the saints (Jude vs. 3) – we must contend for the faith – which requires standing up for the true and standing against what is false.
c. Knowing God’s Word and continuing to grow in our knowledge and understanding of God’s Word is a safeguard against false teaching.
d. Experts in detecting counterfeit money don’t study all the kinds of counterfeit money there is, rather they immerse themselves in studying the real thing, because the better they know what real money looks like, the easier it is to detect the counterfeit.
e. The better we know God’s Word, the easier it will be for us to detect false teaching.
3. Finally, we are reminded that Christians can shipwreck their faith.
a. Christians can fall away from a saving relationship with Jesus.
b. The sad truth is that not everyone who starts to walk with Jesus continues to walk with Jesus and sometimes the church is required to exercise church discipline to help bring people back into a right relationship with Jesus.
c. I’m reminded of the story that Jesus told that is called the parable of the Sower.
1. In that story, the seed of God’s word fell on four types of soil – the path, the rocky soil, the weedy soil, and the good soil – the soils represent the hearts of people.
2. The seed that fell on the path never got started because it got snatched away by the birds – they are the people who start exploring Christianity, but never make a decision to become a follower of Christ – their hearts are too hard.
3. The seed that fell on the rocky soil are people who joyfully become Christians, but they don’t put down deep roots because the soil is too thin and rocky, and when trouble or hardship comes along, then they fall away and give up their faith.
4. The seed that fell on the weedy soil are the people who become Christians and remain Christians, but they are too distracted by the things of this world to spiritually grow.
5. The final group is the good soil, these are the people with good hearts and strong faith, and who apply themselves to their walk with Christ and produce a harvest.
d. Having been in full-time ministry now for 38 years, I have seen far too many people shipwreck their faith, despite our extraordinary efforts to rescue them.
1. It brings tears to my eyes when I think of the many people with whom we used to enjoy sweet fellowship, with whom we used to serve the Lord side by side, who have fallen away from Christ.
2. I hold out the hope that as long as they are still on this side of the grave, that there is the possibility that they will repent and return to the Lord.
3. Some of my greatest joys in ministry have been those few occasions when someone who had gone AWOL from the spiritual battle, returned to the Lord and to the fellowship of God’s people.
a. I don’t think that Tom Zappala would mind me saying that he is one of those most encouraging individuals, who was gone for a long time, but returned and is now the good soil that is producing a good spiritual harvest.
e. I pray that none of us will become spiritual war casualties.
1. We might think that it could never happen to us, but we must never lower our defenses in the spiritual battle, because falling away from the Lord can happen to anyone.
2. Anyone can find themselves in a spiritual storm that shipwrecks their faith.
3. I pray that we will do all we can to keep that from happening to any of us.
Resources:
• 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, Commentary by David Roper, Truth For Today Commentary
