Do you have a gourd growing in your life that is taking over and choking the life out of important things?
When the things of God do not stir you
When the glories of heaven do not interest you
When the horrors of hell do not concern you
When the peril of the lost doesn’t move you
When the Word of God does not attract you
When the idea of prayer does not draw you
When the House of God does not delight you
When you do not see the other things in your life as a way to perform the will of God,
…then you know that “gourds” have taken over your life.
What am I to do with my life? I Tim 1:1-20
This add was given in a London Newspaper: “Men wanted for 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 believe there were thousands of men who responded to this? The reason for such a turn out was the ad was placed by the noted Artic explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton. It causes me to wonder what kind of ad Jesus would give to us today. “Men and women wanted for the task of helping to build my church. You will often be misunderstood, even by those working with you. You will face constant attack from an invisible enemy. You may not see the results of your labor, and your full reward will not come until all your work is completed. It may cost you your home, your family, your friends, even your life.” As we see in the Bible Timothy was one who took this calling. He took on some of the tough assignments in churches Paul had founded. He came from a mixed home for his dad was Greek and his mother a Jew. Timothy did face times of discouragement. Paul wrote to Timothy to help him understand how a local church should be managed. It is in Timothy that we read the responsibilities of a pastor and local church. Let us see what chapter one says.
I. WE ARE TO INSTRUCT IN SOUND DOCTRINE. 1-11, 5 “The purpose of my instruction is that all the Christians there would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and sincere faith.” The people of the church in Ephesus needed to know that Timothy was the man of God; God had given them to lead them in spiritual things. The man of God has to give out the truth for there are many false teachers trying to lead believers astray. Paul would say to us you are a Christian soldier under orders from the King of kings. We are to guard the truth and pass it on to faithful people. Paul had given Timothy the Word of God to give to others, there was no complete bible then so it was a great responsibility to pass along all the truth in the right way. We have that same job today with the written Word of God. There were myths and endless genealogies in that day just as there is in our day. The false teachers raise questions that lead people away from the truth and do not promote God’s saving plan. They do not want to produce love, purity and a clear conscience but divisions, hypocrisy and problems with people. What a terrible thing when Christians get off tract because they refuse healthy doctrine. It is not only in preaching that we find no doctrinal preaching but it is also coming in man many songs that some say are contemporary. Some that has Words with little meaning. A Mighty fortress is our God vs. “Spring up, o Well.” Much of what Paul wrote had to do with false teachers getting people to be in bondage to the law instead of living in the freedom of grace. Our nature says that if we have list of rules and follow them we can appear to be holy with an empty heart. The law has never and never will save someone from sin. The law only exposes us to our sin and tells us we need a savior. In vs. 9, 10 Paul centered on five of the Ten Commandments 5-9 which deal with how we treat our mother and father and our neighbors.
As we live for Jesus there are some rich truths we need to keep in mind:
What ever is at the center of our attention is what has us. What is the center of your attention?
God loves you enough to save you as you are but He loves you to much to leave you where you are.
Nothing is as relevant as the eternal.
II. WE ARE TO MAKE KNOWN, STATE PUBLICLY THE GOSPEL. 12-17,
Paul was not afraid to put his life in the limelight of what God can do for a lost sinner. He even said he was of the worst kind.
What Paul used to be: He denied the deity of Christ and forced others to deny him also. He used any force he could to destroy the church. He helped in the stoning of the first Christian. He was a violent man. The basic cause he gives is that he was ignorant and full of unbelief. He was blinded from the truth. He was very religious but not headed for heaven.
How Paul was changed: 15 “This is a true saying, and everyone should believe it: Christ Jesus came into the world (where did he come from?) To save sinners—and I was the worst of them all. 16 But that is why God had mercy on me, so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.” Romans 5:20 “God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful kindness became more abundant.” 1 CO. 15:10 “But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than all the other apostles, yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.” God did not give Paul what he deserved but he gave Paul what he did not deserve. It was God’s grace that saved Paul. He also lets us know here it was not for him only that Christ died but He gave His life that all might be saved. I believe he was trying to tell us if God could save him then God could save all of those who would believe in Him. WE ARE SAVED BY GOD’S MERCY, NOT OUR MERIT; BY CHRIST’S DYING NOT OUR DOING; BY TRUSTING AND NOT OUR TRYING.
What Paul became: God turned this murderer and persecutor into a minister and a missionary that went far to reach people with the message of God’s plan of salvation. It was such a dramatic change that the church he first went to thought it was a trick and had trouble in accepting him. After Paul was saved God took him to a school in the desert for three years. God entrusted the Gospel to Paul. God enabled Paul to minister the Gospel. What kind of change came into your life when Jesus came in?
To change our lives we must want something more than we have now.
We need to live for something that we will not regret when we come to die.
The secret of having abundance is not found in what we possess but in what we enjoy or are thankful for. III. WE ARE TO DEFEND THE FAITH. 1 Tim. 1:18-20, 19 “Cling tightly to your faith in Christ, and always keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.”
Timothy was a man under orders and he was to obey what Jesus had chosen him to do. As a church we are under orders and must obey if we want God’s blessing. One was spoken of in this way, “He is such a good preacher, he should never get out of the pulpit; but he is such a poor Christian, he should never get into the pulpit.” Could the same be said about hose who attend church here? Bad doctrine starts with bad conduct that ones try to cover up.
7 RULES OF BEHAVIOR
1. Do not say unkind words to anyone. “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. PS 141:3.
2. Do no physical harm to anyone. MT 5:39 “But I say, don’t resist an evil person! If you are slapped on the right cheek, turn the other, too. “
3. Keep you life from bad manners. PS 71:8 “My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long. 19:14May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, 63:5O “With singing lips my mouth will praise you.”
4. Keep yourself from idle chatter. Do not go about spreading slander about your people. Lev. 19:16a
5. Do not develop a bad attitude. Pro 12:1 “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” HB 12:7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. REV 3 19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. HB 12:5 My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
6. Do not destroy property. Pro 14:11 “The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.” If it does not belong to you do not touch it.
7. No grumbling or complaining. Phil.2:14-15 “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation. I TH 4 11 “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands,” 1Co 1: 8 "so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." Eph 1: 4 "to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love" 1Co 1: 8 "so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord" Phil 1: 10 1Th 3: 13 "so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.1Th 5: 23 "May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless.” Heb 7: 26 "blameless, pure, set apart from sinners," 2Pe 3: 14 "blameless and at peace with him. May be pure and blameless until the day of Christ," “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’” 2 Thess. 3:10
You can learn more from your critics than from those who admire you.
When I am in the presence of God it seems strongly inappropriate to demand anything.
For some of the troubles in our life God has not given us the answer but gives us His Son.
What God thinks of us is of much more importance than what we think of ourselves
OUR TASK IS TO WIN THE LOST, TEACH THE BELIEVERS AND DEFEND THE FAITH ACCORDING TO THIS CHAPTER OF I TIMOTHY. NOW YOU HAVE HEARD LET US GO DO IT WITH ALL OUR MIGHT.
