Wage The Good Warfare Series

Scripture

Paul stated the reason for writing his First Letter to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:14–15, “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” Paul wanted Timothy to teach believers how to live in God’s church. Paul’s letter to Timothy is still immensely useful to us as it teaches us how to live in God’s church today.

Paul began his letter by commanding Timothy to charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine (1:3-11). After giving thanks for his salvation and call to service (1:12-17), Paul returned to his charge to Timothy.

Let us read about Paul’s charge in 1 Timothy 1:18-20:

18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy 1:18-20)

Introduction

The cliffs around Cape St. George, just south of Jervis Bay in South Australia, were notorious for shipwrecks. Therefore, it was decided that a lighthouse was needed for the safe navigation of coastal shipping. In 1857, Colonial Architect Alexander Dawson began looking for a site suitable for a lighthouse on Cape St. George. Unfortunately, Dawson was more interested in the ease of construction than in providing an effective navigation aid.

When the Pilots Board went to verify the location Dawson chose, they found that the site was not visible from the required approaches. They also found Dawson’s map suffered from “discrepan¬cies so grave that it is impossible to decide whether position(s) marked on the map really exist.” The board also suspected that Dawson chose the site solely because it was situated close to a quarry from which he planned to obtain stones for construction.

Despite the glaring deficiencies and disagreement by a majority of the board, for reasons not known, the chairman of the board authorized the construction of the lighthouse. For the next four decades, the ill-sited lighthouse was responsible for some two dozen shipwrecks. Eventually, in 1899, the lighthouse was replaced by the Point Perpendicular Lighthouse in a much more suitable location on this part of the coast.

For four decades, a lighthouse stood where it should not have stood. Rather than pointing out danger to passing ships, it lured ships onto the very rocks they were trying to avoid.

False teachers are like this lighthouse. Rather than help people navigate safely to heaven, they lure unwitting listeners on to the rocks of error and make shipwrecks of their faith.

Paul was very concerned about this problem in Ephesus. He wrote to Timothy and commanded him to charge the false teachers not to teach any different doctrine (1:3).

In today’s lesson, he renewed that charge to Timothy. Though Paul’s charge was to Timothy, the principle of Paul’s charge applies to elders serving in God’s church today.

Lesson

1 Timothy 1:18-20 shows us several responsibilities of elders living in God’s church today.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. Elders Must Wage the Good Warfare (1:18)

2. Elders Must Hold Faith (1:19a)

3. Elders Must Hold a Good Conscience (1:19b)

4. Elders Must Hand Contumacious Offenders Over to Satan (1:19c-20)

I. Elders Must Wage the Good Warfare (1:18)

First, elders must wage the good warfare.

Returning to the command he had given to Timothy to charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3), Paul continued in verse 18, “This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.” Paul stressed the fact that when he commanded Timothy to charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine that his command was in accordance with the prophecies previously made about him. So Timothy’s call was not just his idea. These prophecies had specifically and supernaturally called Timothy into God’s service. We are not told what the content of these prophecies was or when they were given. Paul reminded Timothy that God had called him into his service by means of prophecies.

I was converted to Christ when I was nineteen years old. I was in the South African Air Force at the time and I was home on leave from a deployment in the Angolan civil war. About a year later, I finished my military service and started as a student at the University of Cape Town. During a mid-winter break, I was home with my parents. They were attending a Baptist Church and so I did as well. I asked to be baptized, and Pastor Trevor Eayrs talked to me about baptism. One Sunday evening, in mid-winter, two other baptismal candidates and I were baptized. As I recall, I was the last one to be baptized. Unfortunately, the water in the baptismal pool was very cold because the water heater did not work. Each candidate briefly shared how he came to faith in Jesus. Then the pastor baptized us. I did not remember the pastor telling me to hold my nose and so when he baptized me, I got water up my nose. I came up spluttering and gagging! I tried to leave but the pastor stopped me. He said, “Freddy, I believe that God is going to call you into his service to become a pastor.” That was shocking to me because I was not planning to do so. However, several years later, I did sense the calling of the Lord. Now, Pastor Eayrs was not claiming the gift of prophecy. But what he said made an impact on me and it turned out to be prescient.