Turn Your Eyes Upon The Eternal God.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
“The American Church Is In Trouble” reads the headlines of many articles online, or at least they are saying something of that sort. Are they wrong? Is the church really in trouble?
Listen to these statistics and let me know what you think.
About 42% of Millennials attend a church service regularly (at least once per month), and only 35% of Americans overall attend a weekly church service.
From 2000 to 2020, the percentage of practicing Christians in America fell from 45% to 25%. During the same time period, non-practicing Christians grew from 35% to 43%.
Weekly church attendance in America dropped from 45% in 1993 to just 29% in 2020.
45% of Generation Z say they rarely or never attend a church service.
A little more than one in three Millennials believe the American church does more harm than good.
Roughly 84% of American churches are plateaued or declining. That means only 16% of churches in the US are experiencing growth or hyper expansion.
That is a lot to take in, isn’t it? What do you think?
It is easy to see why people say, “The American Church is in trouble.”
I love what Tim Keller had to say about this topic. Listen to his words here: “There is no more urgent question for American Christians than this: What’s wrong with the American church and how can its life and ministry be renewed?
Virtually everyone agrees something is radically wrong with the church. Inside, there’s more polarization and conflict than ever, leading all sides to agree the church is in deep trouble. Outside, journalists, sociologists, and all other observers bemoan or celebrate the church’s decline numerically, institutionally, and in influence. We must find a new way forward—to spiritual, theological, and institutional renewal—until the Christian church is thriving again, until it’s growing by appealing to and reaching people with truth and serving and changing people with love.”
I want us to go back to the question Tim Keller posed at the beginning of that quote. Listen to it again.
There is no more urgent question for American Christians than this: What’s wrong with the American church and how can its life and ministry be renewed?
In the midst of everything that we are seeing about the church, this is the question that we have to seek to answer. We know that the church is messed up and broken. We have to be willing to face that reality in our lives. We know this even in our own history as Berean Baptist Church. This church has been through the ebbs and flows of growth and decline. Many of you have weathered some pretty bad storms here. But I see God doing something here. God is not done with us here in Sciotoville. God is not done with this church.
What we have to see is that we are not the only church or church culture that has had to face these kinds of problems. The early church had its share of issues too. They faced many of the same problems that we face even today.
You see, what this all comes back to is the question.... What Is a Healthy Church?
What is a church supposed to be doing? Who is to be leading the church? What kind of things should the church be doing? What kind of teaching should be going on inside of the church? Who should the church be listening to? All of these are the types of questions that the early church faced, and I think that these are the types of questions that we need to face as well.
And it is for this reason that we are going to start our new sermon series on 1 Timothy.
At the core of this little book, we read these words:14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 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. 16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory (1 Timothy 3:14–16).
This church was in a mess. And although, as we will see here in just a second, this letter is written to the Pastor of this church in Ephesus, it would have been read to the whole congregation. And throughout this letter what we see is Paul addressing some of the issues that plague this church's health…and many of these things are things that we need to hear for our own day and age as well.
Our desire is to be a healthy, Biblical church. We get there by reading the word, studying the word, and applying this word. This isn’t about programs and methods. This isn't about traditions. We are going back to the basics and trying to understand what makes a healthy church by going to the Word of God as our foundation.
Body:
With that being said, I want to invite you to turn with me your Bibles to 1 Timothy 1:1-2 this morning as we continue with our worship of the Lord.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord (1 Ti 1:1–2).
Let’s pray together, as we study this text this morning.
I love going through these small sections of scriptures together. We normally read these openings in the letters of the New Testament, and we don’t often think much about them. We see them. We get the idea behind them. We treat them much like we do our own letters when we get them. We get that they tell us who wrote the letter, and they tell us to whom they are writing. That is the case at least 95% of the time. But, by and large, we do not slow down to consider what is being said here… or we don’t take the time to look at what might be conveyed through them. Here is what we have to remember, we believe that this book is the VERY WORD of GOD. That everything in it is given by Him. That would mean, that if He said it… then it must be important. We may not always see the importance of it.... but that has to deal more with us than it does Him and His word.
What I want us to do this morning is walk through this text together and dwell on some really important truths that we see displayed here.
Let’s start with the author of this letter: Let’s look at verse 1.
What Do We Know About Paul?
From this text, we know at least two things.
He is an apostle of Christ Jesus.
This may not seem like a big deal to us, but we are going to dive into what exactly that means here in just a second.
He is writing to Timothy.
Which basically lets us know that Paul is writing to this guy.... who we will discuss here in just a second.
But what else do we know about this guy Paul? This guy in kind of a big deal in the Bible. Let me give you some things that we know about him.
He was a religious Pharisee.
What that means was he was a religious Jew who did his very best to keep the Law of God. He was trying to earn his way into heaven. In fact, Paul was not some small-time Pharisee either. He had studied and trained under the best of them. In his own words, there was not a person who could even come close to his religious walk. He did everything with the book.
He was not always a follower of Christ.
This is a surprising fact for those who don’t know his back story. Paul at one time in his life, back when he went by his Jewish name Saul, did not follow Jesus. In fact,....
He was a persecutor of the church.
Not only was this guy opposed to following Jesus, this guy actually arrested Christians, beat them, put them in jail, and killed them. He had tried to stop this “cult” as he saw them and was willing to do everything in his power to do so.
So, we have to ask the question then right, how does a person who is like that go from trying to destroy the church of Christ to being an “apostle” of Christ Jesus.
It all has to deal with what happens to Paul when he meets the risen Christ. As Paul was on his way to persecute the Church. I know we have read these words before, but hear them again...
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do (Ac 9:1–6).
Paul walks away from this event blind for three days, and he goes on fasting without food or drink. As Paul is sitting there, God speaks to Ananias and tells him to go and find Paul and to speak to him. And after some debate with God, Ananias goes and here is what we read....
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened (Ac 9:15–19).
Paul understood the grace of God because he experienced the grace of God in his life!
This is what changed him. This is what made him go from someone who was trying to destroy the Church of Jesus Christ to being an apostle of it.
Notice what the text says there in verse 1 of 1 timothy.... Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by.... by what? By command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our Hope.
This change took place by God’s will in Paul’s life. Paul was heading one direction and was hell bent on destroying the church… but God had different plans for him. God called him to be an apostle.
But what exactly is an apostle? Have you ever stopped and thought about this? Like we say this word a lot in churches and stuff, but what is it?
What Is an Apostle?
Literal definition- messenger, delegate, or sent one.
This comes from the Greek word “Apostolos”, and it was used when someone was sent one behalf of a master. Think of it in terms of ambassador.
Most of the time we think of “The 12”
When we read through the Gospels, we see that Jesus chose 12 men to follow him, and these disciples he called apostles. We see the same idea in Act 1 when the apostles are gathered together to replace Judas’ place in the ministry.
But what often happens, we think of “Apostle” only in this sense… as the ones with special authority. Or those who were close to Christ. And we become guilty of what DA Carson calls “illegitimate totality transfer” meaning we only read one definition onto the word, when in fact the word is used in other ways in the New Testament.
Refers to those with Authority.
This is different than the special authority of the 12 apostles. I am talking about authority to make decisions in the early church. We see James the Lord’s brother fulfill this role. It is clear he wasn’t one of the original 12, but yet he had authority.
Refers to those who were messengers.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out… (Ac 14:14).
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me (1 Co 15:3–8).
I want us to see that when we see this word apostle, we have to be willing to at least think about what is being said here. In what sense then did Paul mean he was an apostle? That is the question we are considering right now. When we look through the Bible and see how Paul uses the word “Apostle” connected to his name, it is very clear that he uses it in such a way as one who is sent by God with authority because, again look at the text…
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.
Do you see that wording there? Paul is describing who he is and what his role is in the church. He is an apostle. He is a sent one. He is a messenger…but he is not just any messenger… Paul is a messenger of Christ Jesus. Paul belongs to Jesus. Paul is getting his orders from God and Christ…that is where this sentence turns. Paul is not making this stuff up. He is following orders here. He is doing what he has been told by GOD.
This is very important for us to get…because what we are going to see in this letter is Paul go toe to toe with some of these false teachers in 1 Timothy… and the one who has been given authority by God is going to have the final say. Paul is not doing or acting out of his own accord. He knows and understand that he has a mission from God.
Paul is Owned by Christ Jesus.
Jesus has Paul's heart, mind, soul, and affections. We see that in the language that is used here.
Notice this really quick, and I wish I had more time to dive deep into this. Look at how Paul describes God and Jesus in verse 1.
God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, (1 Ti 1:1).
These are words that we do not normally see together in the New Testament. We do not often see God as being described as “Our Savior” Who do we often see the designation of Savior being attached to?
We often see that attached to Jesus. In fact, we only see God described as Savior in the New Testament a total of 6 times, and 5 of them occur within what we call the Pastoral Epistles… or letters (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus) the other occurrence shows up in the book of Jude.
We can say something similar to the phrase “Christ Jesus our hope.” In fact, this is the only place in all of Scripture these three words match up exactly this way. There are other places of course that describe the hope we have in Christ. But what is so amazing is, it is not only limited to Christ. We often read about hope being connected to God.
Ok. So, what’s the big deal here? I know that is what some of you are thinking. Like, Paul changes up some phrases here. Is that really such a big deal?
I think that it is. What we are looking at here is a definitive statement about the Godhead.
God being Savior has its roots in the Old Testament. And in the New Testament times, the word “savior” was often applied to the Emperor of Rome. He was the savior. But here we have Paul, saying Nope that is not the case. God is Savior. Jesus is our hope. These two, God and Son, are not mutually exclusive from one another. We as Christians do not believe in three different Gods. We believe in 1 God who exists in three persons. It is what we call the doctrine of the Trinity. Three in One. And all three are equally God, and all three make up the “triune God.” I know that it is a little weighty this morning. It is hard for us to get our minds wrapped around such a statement, but I think if we are going to be moved to worship then we need to see the truths that are being communicated through this text.
In as much as Jesus is our Savior, the Father is as well. We have to see that the Father not only sent the Son to come and die for our Sin, although that is very true, the Father was just as actively involved in our Salvation as the Son. The Father was not a passive agent in the matter. God the Father did not let God the Son do all of the dirty work. God the Father and God the Son are one. If this were not true Jesus would not have been able to say these words in the Gospel of John.
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves (Jn 14:8–11).
Ok, so what am I wanting us to see from this verse “God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope”?
Here is what I want us to see, Our Entire Salvation Is Wrapped Up in the Godhead.
Not only are our sins paid for and we have a savior, we have a hope… a hope that is not this life and the life that is to come. In the New Testament, the word hope often refers to what is coming next. This life is not all that there is. We have a hope that is coming.
We serve a God who created us, loves us, came and gave his life for us, so that He could be “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ.” That is news to be celebrated this morning. That is life changing news. That is good news. That is what we celebrate as Christians. And we will track this phrase through this letter to see how it is played out.
We are going to pick up the pace here really quickly, because I am running out of time. Look at verse 2 with me.
2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord (1 Ti 1:2).
What Do We Know About Timothy?
Paul’s Child in the Faith.
He Served with Paul in Missionary Journeys.
Pastor of the church at Ephesus (v3).
Grew up in a mixed-religious home.
Probably converted by his mother and grandmother (2 Tim 1:4-6 & 3:14-15).
He was probably a little timid.
What we are going to see in this letter is Paul telling this young Pastor not to give up. To keep going. To stay strong. To protect the faith. To raise up other Godly leaders around him. Paul is going to instruct him in what the church should be doing.
And as a reminder for Timothy, Paul sends him this formal blessing: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
And what is so interesting here is that Paul adds a word. Normally Paul will just say Grace and peace to you, but he adds mercy here. And he only does this one other time and that is to his second letter to this young Pastor. So, Timothy must have needed to hear that there was mercy for him. He needed to be reminded of these truths. And in fact, Mercy will become a major theme in this letter as we walk through it together.
But, let's look at each of these words to get a basic understanding of what they mean.
Grace
God’s unmerited favor.
God giving you what you DO NOT deserve.
Mercy
Compassion for those in need.
God NOT GIVING you what YOU DO Deserve.
Peace
Tranquility. Unity. Every kind of blessing and good.
I love what Cornelius Plantinga said about Peace. Here is what he said. “The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace, but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight- a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Salom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.” Cornelius Plantinga Jr. pg. 10. Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be.
The Way Things Ought To Be.
When you put these three things together, Grace, Mercy, and Peace, I think we can say these are things are what every heart longs for. As created beings, we long for Grace, Mercy, and Peace.
Would you agree with that statement? Do you want grace in your life? Do you want mercy? Do you long for peace?
And notice here in 1 Timothy. How do we get them? How do we get what our hearts are longing for? ...from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord (1 Ti 1:2). These three things find their source from the Godhead. They are steaming OUT OF, or FROM God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. It is only from God that you are able to have Grace, Mercy, and Peace in your life. You are never going to find those things outside of Him, because their source is God.
Conclusion:
What amazing truths for our hearts this morning. What we are longing for. All what we want, grace, mercy, peace, forgiveness of sin, eternal hope, meaning to our lives.... all of those things are found not by chasing harder after the things of this world but by coming to God through Christ. They are found in the One true God of the Bible. They are offered to us by coming to Him. And what is so amazing is that He made a way for us to do that.
Despite all of our rebellion against Him, God became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus came and lived a prefect life for us, and then went and died in our place on a cross. He took the wrath of God for us and died in our place. He was buried and three days later He rose again. And now he tells each one of us to repent of our sins and trust in him for salvation. In him he offered grace, mercy, and peace. But it is only through surrender.
I know that we have looked at a lot this morning, and we could keep going. There is so much truth wrapped up in these two verses that could just make our hearts swell for worship. But I want to talk really quick about some applications for your life because that is the height of worship... applying the word. Living life differently. That is what God wants for you this morning.
Questions to Consider...
What Has God Called You To?
Are You Serving Him Where He Has Placed You?
Are You Passing on the Faith to Someone Else?
Have You Trusted in God as Your Savior?
Are You Looking to Him for Your Life Today?
Main Point: Turn Your Eyes Upon the Eternal God.
Let’s Pray Together.
