The Message of the Pastoral Epistles:
#2 – Why the church is important.
1 Timothy 1
Introduction:
*Truth without love is dogmatism. Love without truth is sentimentality. Speaking the truth in love is Christianity.
*As we dive into this series, this first chapter is short…only 20 verses long. I’d like for us to stand up and read this together.
*READ TEXT
I. Believe the truth. (The World doesn’t.)
*Bob Russell shared that several months before they moved into their new church building in 1998, their ministry staff met at the new site for a special staff meeting. Most of the building still wasn’t carpeted, and some of the rooms still had no drywall. They handed out hard hats, magic markers, and a few Bibles. They instructed the staff members to go to the classrooms and offices in the building where they would be working and write Scripture verses on the concrete floors. Bob told them, “Someday soon the Scriptures will be covered with carpet. But I hope you will always remember what you have written today. And what we do today will be a visible reminder that we are always to stand on God’s Word.”
*He said the staff really got into it. Some of them used cans of spray paint they had brought so the words would show up better. It bothered him a little because some of them acted as if they had experience at doing that. He said those in the children’s ministry wrote things like, “Let the little children come to me…for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” In the education wing, the adult education ministers wrote things like, “Study to show yourself approved unto God,” and “Your Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
*In the music practice rooms, the music ministers wrote, “Sing and make music unto the Lord,” and “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” In the offices of the preaching team, they wrote passages like, “Preach the Word in season and out of season,” and “Watch your life and doctrine closely…if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
*He said the Scriptures on the floor idea caught on, and soon hundreds of church members followed suit. In a matter of weeks, there were Scriptures all over the concrete floors – down hallways, on stairways, on the steps leading up to the pulpit. He saw moms and dads bring their children to the building just to write their favorite Scriptures on the concrete floors. They actually considered asking people to stop because they started writing in places they hadn’t planned to cover with carpet! But they decided it wasn’t a good idea to make people quit writing Scriptures.
*He told of one of the small groups that had volunteered to help clean the building one afternoon. As they were preparing to leave, Marty Rice, prayer leader of the group, said, “Why don’t we write down a Scripture reference in one of the rooms before we leave?” So they found a small room that didn’t have any Scriptures yet. Rick Nally, one of the group members, said, “How about the passage where Jesus said, ‘Where two or three of you are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of you’?” Marty asked what the reference was. “I think it’s Matthew 18:28,” Rick said. Marty stooped and wrote, “Matthew 18:28” and the group’s name on the floor in permanent marker. Later that evening at a restaurant, Rick brought in his Bible from the car to double-check the reference. He said, “Oh no. It’s Matthew 18:20, not 18:28.” Someone asked the obvious question: “What’s verse 28 say?” Rick read, “When that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.”
*Russell said, “I suppose if you are ever in our building and, while standing in certain classroom, suddenly have the urge to choke someone, you’ll know why!”
*But aside from that the building became a dramatic reminder to all of them that the church has been called to stand upon the Word of God. This is the essence of Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in chapter one. We have to ask ourselves the obvious question: Are we standing upon the Word of God? Does the Word which is preached from this pulpit permeate our lives in a very real sense or are we non-distinguishable from the culture around us?
*I’ve heard author Frank Peretti compare our culture’s hunger for biblical absolutes to the need for authority on a neighborhood playground in the summertime. Posted on the fence of the playground are some rules: “No hitting. No profanity. Only age ten and under on the monkey bars. Only age eight and older on the basketball court. Ten minute limit on the tetherball court.” The rules work well because mingling through the crowd of children is Mrs. Kravitz. She has a keen eye, and if you misbehave, she will give you a pink slip. Two pink slips and you’re out of the playground for the summer.
*But take Mrs. Kravitz out of the picture. How long do you think it will take before the rules begin to be violated? “Hey, he hit me!” “She spit on me!” “Hey get those big kids off the monkey bars! Little kids are getting hurt!” “Hey, he cut the tetherball off!”
*Who will soon rule the playground? The biggest, the strongest, the most antagonistic. That’s what is happening all around us, because there is no regard for the rules. The 10 commandments are no longer obeyed, and the Bible is no longer respected as a source of authority in our culture, largely because it is not preached from our pulpits as the Word of God. Preachers don’t have the ability to “hand out pink slips,” but we do have a duty to uphold the truth of God’s Word and sound a clear warning as to what judgment God will bring if His rules are disobeyed. Since preachers haven’t faithfully done that, our culture has taken the rules off the fence. The 10 commandments have been completely removed from public life and even outlawed in public places. And there is no longer any fear of God’s authority.
*The challenge is to retain high biblical standards regardless of how far the world “slouches toward Gomorrah,” as Judge Robert Bork put it. Certain transcendent truths are absolute – the inspiration of Scripture, the historical creation of man, the deity of Jesus Christ, the plan of salvation, the 10 commandments. These have been given by God as unchanging truths, and they should not be compromised. The church must stand firm in the faith and “preach the Word…in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). When we do this we will be labeled fundamental, narrow-minded, and bigoted. But Jesus said, “Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
II. Teach the Truth (Many Churches Don’t)
*Have you ever been to someone’s home for an evening party thinking that dinner was going to be served and you were mistaken? You arrive hungry only to realize it’s an open house with only a few finger foods or desserts on the table. You try to fill up on the finger foods, but they don’t satisfy. You walk away hungry and say to yourself, I need to stop at McDonald’s and get a burger!
*Do you know what is really sad? Many people leave churches all over our city feeling empty every week. They come hungry for the Word of God, but when they aren’t fed, they go empty, hungry, and frustrated. Eventually, unless all they want out of church is the security of tradition (and listen many people are very comfortable at that level) or if they just want an entertainment fix, they will drift away in an effort to find a place that’s offering some substance.
*Paul told Timothy to command certain men not to teach false doctrine. I think there is a large temptation to compromise the truth and that happens almost daily. We all get into tight situations and are tempted to take the easy way out by saying what we know people want to hear.
*Bob Russell shared about a wealthy business man in his congregation who had pledged a million dollars to their building fund. This man came and asked Bob to perform his wedding…his third wedding. Because of the circumstances surrounding his previous divorce, his situation didn’t fit into the church’s marriage policy. Bob confessed that it was really tempting to try and find a way to accommodate his request. But he decided to follow the policy.
*Church leaders face a constant struggle with compromising on the truth. There are times when every church leader is tempted to water down the truth. There will be influential people you want to accommodate. There will be brilliant, likable theological liberals you want to impress. There will be arrogant, angry conservatives you wish you could debate, because even though you agree with their stance, you hate their demeanor. There will be seekers and believers you won’t want to alienate by taking an unpopular stand on a controversial issue.
*Despite the real temptation to say just what itching ears want to hear or to say nothing at all, it is imperative that the church be a place where the truth is unashamedly proclaimed. And when the truth is not proclaimed the leadership of the church must be ready to do battle.
*Chuck Colson said the number one question in our society today is this: Is there any absolute truth? And the answer we need to be screaming and shouting from the pulpits is a very definite YES. We need to commit ourselves to the Bible as God’s Word, the source of absolute truth.
III. Apply the truth (Most teachers don’t)
*In an almost prayer-like state Paul winds up this chapter with Timothy describing the application of God’s mercy to his life: “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:15-17; NIV)
*There was a popular youth speaker, Don Hinkle, who used to train his audience to yell out upon his cue, “So what? Who cares? Where does that touch me?” He would then proceed to tell them how the message should apply to their personal lives.
*Paul figured it out. Paul knew how it applied because it applied to him first and in his mind, most of all. No matter what is happening, if you leave here on a Sunday morning wondering: So what? Who cares? Where does that touch me? Then I have not accomplished the task.
*This past year when I was at the National Preaching Summit, Bob Shannon said, “I don’t go into the pulpit to explain a passage of Scripture. I go into the pulpit to meet a need. It just so happens that for every need, there is a passage that can meet it.
*Usually preachers are inclined to give mainly “Sunday” applications. We apply Scripture to the activities of the church. We might implore people to sign up to teach or to tithe, but that is only a Sunday application. When people see the gospel is relevant to Monday, not just Sunday, then the Word of God begins to come alive in them.
*You see it is one thing for me to stand up here and say: The Word of God tells us to not covet. But it is an entirely different issue if I said: “Some of you are perfectly content living in your house until you go to a “Homearama” show where some architectural marvel is on display, then you come home discontented with your own house. Or Some of you are perfectly happy with your mate, but then you go to a party and see someone else’s spouse who is more attractive and more romantic, and you come home critical and envious. Some of you have wonderful children, but when you see other children who get better grades or are more athletic, you churn with envy and discontentment. You might love this church, but then you visit a church that seems more alive, and you start picking at the little problems you see that this church has.”
*You see the point is where does the Word of God touch you? Has it reached your Monday? Paul had it touch him and it changed him forever. But the real question is, has God’s Word touched you? Has it made a difference in your life?
*I know some people who are critical of the church but have never had the gospel change their life. They are backseat drivers. They are would-be quarterbacks. People who think they have the answer. They very quickly have assessed what the church’s problems are but the reality is God’s Word has never changed their life. It never reached them on Monday. Paul could diagnose the problems in the church in Ephesus because he had been one who had the gospel applied to his life. He knew the transforming power of God’s Word personally.
*Have you been changed by the gospel? Don’t look at surface stuff. Yeah, so you attend church more than you ever used to. You give money to the church. That’s fine. But what about Monday? There isn’t any other way to ask this than this: Are you saved? Have you been baptized? Or are you just on the fringe? Listen, you can not enter heaven on the fringe.
