Gospel Focus
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
As we continue with our worship of the Lord this morning and turn to His word, I want to invite you to grab your Bible and turn with me to 1 Timothy 1:3-11.
We started this series last week and we said we want to go through this book because we know and understand that there is a glaring problem in the American Church. When you look at all of the data, church attendance is down, baptisms are down, 85% of churches are in decline- to put this in perspective roughly around 4,500 churches will close each year. There is a good chance that today, there is a church in the US that is meeting for one last time. They will have one last sermon. One last Sunday School class. They will shut off the lights one more time, and they will drive away one more time.
That is heart breaking isn’t? Like no one wants to go through that. And yet, that is becoming the normative story we are hearing.
Something is wrong with the Church. And the question that we are trying to understand is, what do we do about it?
Instead of turning to the newest and best programs, instead of turning to fads that come and go, instead of relying on traditions, what we are doing is turning to the Word of God and trying to see .... What Is a Health Church?
As we said last week, this is the question that we want to get to the bottom of. I know that 1 Timothy does not give us all of the answers. I get that. The Whole Bible gives us direction on what makes a health church. But, 1 Timothy does spell out some really important things for us to consider as we think about our days ahead as a church. We want to see health in this body. We want to see growth in this body. We want to see this body of believers so on fire for Jesus that Sciotoville doesn’t know what to think. But that comes from being rooted and grounded in the Word of God. That comes from seeking His face.
We can get so sidetracked that it is not even funny, this helps us stay grounded. And today, what we are going to see is Paul begins addressing some of the issues that were plaguing the early church.
Let’s read this text together. Hear the Word of the Lord this morning for your souls.
As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. 8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted (1 Ti 1:3–11).
Let’s pray together as we seek to study the Word Together.
Body:
Paul knew something like this was going to happen. He had seen this kind of attack coming. In fact, Paul probably was not surprised when he found out this problem was occurring there at the church in Ephesus. He had warned the leaders.
Listen to these words. This is from Acts 20. Paul had planted the church at Ephesus. Riots had occurred there. Paul is on his way to Jerusalem where he knows trouble awaits him… but his heart was for this local church. Listen to these words.
25 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified (Ac 20:25–32).
The words that Paul had spoken earlier in his ministry had come true. This church was facing a real threat… and what may be the most surprising fact is that the threat was not coming from outside forces. They were not warned of persecution and threats… for they had already been through that. What they were to watch out for was a threat that was within their midst.
You see, The Greatest Threat to a Health Church Sometimes Comes from Within.
That may shock some people, but when you read through the New Testament, this is what we see over and over again. And this is most certainly the problem that was going on here at the church in Ephesus.
These false teachers had snuck in, to use Paul's words from Acts, and were teaching things that were contrary to the Christian Message. They were teaching things that were anti-Gospel.
Before we walk through this text, I want to put this up on the screen for us to think about. This is what I see the as the Main point of this text, and really probably could be said about all of Chapter 1. When we think about what it means to be a Health Church… here is what Paul starts with... Main Point: A Health Church Must Understand The Gospel Rightly.
This is what Paul is going to tell Timothy that he has to defend here in the 1st chapter of the book. It is the Gospel that is being attacked. It was the Gospel that Timothy needed to have a proper understanding of.
That is what we are talking about here in this section today. What is the message of the Christian Church? How are we to understand the Gospel from these verses? What things do we learn about solid Christian ministry from this text? Those are the types of questions we want to answer this morning.
Look at verses 3-7 with me as this is our first section of scripture. Paul is going to break this down into two different parts.
As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith (1 Ti 1:3–4)… Let’s stop here for a moment and see what Paul is saying.
Did you notice what Paul had to tell Timothy? He tells him to stay there in Ephesus. Some speculate that it is possible that Timothy might have wanted to quit at this moment. That seems likely if you read through the rest of the letter. Timothy might have been “done” with these problems. He was ready to move on to greener pastures… maybe he was ready to take another ministry assignment.... or maybe he was ready to walk away from ministry altogether. We do not know.
Here is what we do know… the problem of Pastoral burnout is not a new problem. This is something that we see even within our churches today…and I think could be one of the contributing factors of why the American church is the way that it is today.
Like, did you know that 50% of those who are going into the ministry will leave within 5 years never to return? Did you know that only 10% of those who enter the ministry will actually retire as a minister in some form? Now, there are a number of different reasons that go into this, everything from the pressure of ministry and unrealistic expectations from churches to their own moral failings, but my point though is not to highlight all of the dangers of leaving, because that is not what we see the text doing, but I want us to see that what we need is Pastors who stay. We need to take the words of Paul seriously here in these verses.
A Healthy Church Has Leaders/ Pastors....
Who stay when things are difficult.
This is what we see Paul telling Timothy to do here. He knows that it is bad. He knows that it is hard. But it is necessary for the health of the church for Timothy to stay put where God has placed Him.
Not only is he to stay put, we see Paul actually give Timothy the reasons why he is to stay. The text says... “remain at Ephesus SO THAT....that is the purpose.... you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine” …etc. Or to keep with our wording here.... Healthy Church Has Leaders/ Pastors....
Who Stand Up To False Teachers.
This can be quite controversial in our day and age. We don’t like the idea of calling out those who are teaching false doctrine. We live in a world where we want to let everyone live their own truth. What is right for them is right for them.
We don’t see Paul addressing this problem this way. Paul is telling Timothy to call a spade a spade. Call it like he sees it. Timothy is called as Pastor to guard the Truth that has been delivered to the Saints. There is a core message to Christianity that is to be safe guarded by those who are called as its ministers. Paul tells Timothy to tell these people in the church to STOP teaching their false doctrine, to stop devoting themselves to myths… or what we would call fables… and to give up on these endless genealogies.... because they do not promote godliness.... they are only promoting speculation. To be honest, we are not 100% sure exactly what the false teaching was in the church. It has this weird Jewish, mysticism vibe to it. It seems to be a mix of keeping the Law, as we will see in verses 8-11, avoiding certain foods and marriage (Ch. 4), and money (Ch 6.), and at the same time seemed to be built off of some strange Old Testament teaching. At the end of the day, what matters is that it promoted speculation rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. It was Gospel+…. And Paul tells Timothy to “Charge them” to stop it. Enough.
Why? Why are they to stop going down this rabbit hole? Look at verse 5. 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (1 Ti 1:5).
The aim of Christian preaching is not speculation. The aim of Gospel-Centered Preaching is love. Not the way our world wants to talk about love. Not love that is generic and means nothing. The aim of Christain love is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. It is to see, as we have been learning on Sunday Nights, that Jesus is to have the utmost affections of our hearts. We are to desire Him above all things. In Him there is fullness of Joy. That is the aim of Christian preaching… or of the Christian Message… it is to Love God… but not only to love God… we also know that we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is the Aim of the Gospel message… it creates in us a love for God and a love for people. And this is not something that comes through on our own will power.... this comes from… or to use the words of the text.... issues from a pure heart.... a good conscience, and a sincere faith. That is the Aim of Gospel-Centered preaching. It is what we call Regeneration or being born again. That is the aim here. It is not speculation. It is see God change the person from the inside out and their hearts and lives be changed.
To put it another way, in keeping with our points on the screen, we could say… A Healthy Church Has Leaders/ Pastors....
Who Preach A Gospel Of Regeneration.
It is when a person gets away from the basics of Christianity that they get into a world of a mess. Look at verses 6-7 with me,
6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions (1 Ti 1:6–7).
You know people like this don't you? When people try to come up with any other way in which they can be saved, they will almost most certainly revert back to the Law of God as a means for salvation. And here is the problem.... when a person walks away from the Gospel of Grace… the basics of Christianity… then they are going to enter into vain discussions. I love what Paul says here. He says they desire to be teachers of the Law. That is what they think is cool. That is what makes them look good. They can say all of this really cool stuff about the Law....but notice what he says next… he says they don’t even know what in the world they are talking about. They are making all of these confident assertions…but they are totally clueless.
Have you ever been around anyone like that? Have you been around a person who speaks like they are an expert on the subject.... but you know they have no idea what they are talking about? You see this on social media all the time, don't you? That is what Paul is talking about here. These false teachers, had a desire to be known as a "Great Teachers of the Law” and they spoke as if they had EVERYTHING figured out.... they were the “GO TO” person on this matter.... but the truth of the matter was… they didn’t have a clue about the Law.
Now, this might lead some people to think that Paul was against the Law.... or that he did not see the value of it, and that simply is not true.
This is where we get into our second section of scripture. Look at verses 8-11 with me.
8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted (1 Ti 1:8–11).
There are a few things I want us to see from this passage. The first one is this, let’s finish our thoughts on A Healthy Church Has Leaders/ Pastors....
Who Use The Law Rightly.
That is what we see here as the ramifications of what Paul is talking about. The false teachers were using the Law wrongfully, but there is a right way to handle the Law.
What Is The Law? That is a good question to ask. When Paul is speaking about a right way and a wrong way that the Law is to be used, we probably need to define our terms first. So, what does Paul mean by The Law?
He Is Talking About The 10 Commandments.
He is Talking About The Moral Law of God.
We need to see this and understand this. We know that he is talking about the 10 commandments because out of the list of vices that he mentions, they all pertain to the 10 commandments. That is what is in discussion here. The Big 10.
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make idols.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet.
Now, what Paul is saying here, is that there is a right to understand these commandments… and there is a wrong way.
So, let’s see what the Scriptures says about the Law....because this is something that we have to understand in our day and age because there are two really big competing views of the Law…and both are wrong… and we will get to that here toward the end.... but let’s put everything on the Table and just see what does the Bible say about the Law.
The Law....
Is Good.... if used Lawfully.
This is Paul saying there is a proper use of the Law for teachers, and I would add for Christians.
Is NOT for the JUST.
Now, what Does Paul mean by that? Does he mean that those who are Christians have no need of the Law in their lives? That is not what he is saying. There is something more at play here and it is connected to the next statement.
Is FOR the Unjust!
Or we could say the unrighteous person. The person who is outside a relationship with Christ. And Paul goes on to list several sins there in the text. Look at them… it is for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, And notice here are verse 11 that Paul broadens it does not confine it.... He opens it up because the list that he just gave is not an exclusive list. It is only an example of the types of things that is why he goes on and says..... and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
Paul is like, look the Law is for anyone and everyone who is living a life that is contrary to the Gospel of Christ....which is everyone before we come to Christ.
What Is The Purpose Of The Law?
It Is Not To Make You Right With God.
That is what Paul means when he says it is not laid down for the just. You are not going to make yourself righteous before God by keeping the Law. There is no amount of good works or effort that you can perform to be right with the Lord. It is wrong for teachers, preachers, leaders, or even yourself to tell yourself.... to be right with the Lord… all I need to do is just try a little harder…work a little harder.... clean my act up just a little more… stop cussing a little more… start going to church a little more often… keep giving....keep doing..... work...work..work…try…try…try. That is an exhausting life to live. The purpose of the Law was never meant to make you right before the Lord.
The purpose of the Law is...
To Expose Sin And Lead You To Christ.
That is what the Law of God is supposed to do in your life. This is why Paul lists out those sins and vices and says the Law is for them. The Law exposes the heart of those who need a savior.
If you are following along with me, hold your place in 1 Timothy and flip over to the book of Galatians real quick. We are going to start in Gal 3:10.
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith (Ga 3:10–11).
21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith (Ga 3:21–26).
We see the same idea here in this text. The Law was not given to us so that you can be made right with God. The Law was given to imprison you under sin…it is your guardian…some translations say “School Master”.... it is the thing that picks you up and carries you to Christ.
We see the same idea in Romans 3:19–20 “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
The Law exposes our sins and leaves us in a place of brokenness before God. What are we to say for ourselves when we understand our sin in light of the Law? When we understand this, it brings us to the end of ourselves and leads us to the Savior.
Go back to 1 Timothy with me.... and this is why Paul says what he does in verse 15, which we will get into more next week…but here is a trustworthy saying… Jesus Christ Came Into the World To Save Sinners. And ladies and gentlemen, boys, and girls....that is what we are. We are sinners in need of the grace of God....and this is the right use of the law to bring us to the place and knowledge of where we need a savior. The Law points us to our need for Christ.
Conclusion:
For the Christian, this is what we need to understand. Your relationship with God is not based on your performance. God is not more pleased with you on your best day spiritually than when you have fallen morally before Him. Does your sin grieve God? Yes. Does it break His heart? Yes, it does. Does He Love you any less? No, He Does not. Knowledge of our sin drives us back to the cross.
And for those in this room who have never accepted Christ, listen to me... you need to understand this too. Look at your life in light of the commandments. Are you guilty of breaking them? We all are. That is why we need a savior. You are never going to be made right with God by your effort. You need a savior. And that is what Jesus Christ is for us. He is Savior. He came and died on the cross for our sins. We broke God’s law and Christ paid our fine on the Cross. He was killed and buried in a tomb, but three days later He rose again for our salvation. Now he welcomes all who would repent of the sins and turn to Him today.
In our Day and age there are a number of false teaching that we need to be aware of, just like Paul warned in this Text. Let me give them to you real quick
False Teachings....
Legalism
Antinomianism (NO LAW)
New Ageism
Prosperity Gospel
Our job as your Pastor is to warn you of these things. To protect the flock from these kinds of teachings. We are charged by God to guard the Gospel which has been entrusted to us. Our job is to warn you of these ideas that are contrary to the Gospel…some in which other people preach....and some in which we preach to ourselves. But the truth of the matter is.... if it is not leading you back to the Cross…if it is not leading you to Christ.... then it is missing the Mark of True Gospel Preaching.
Main Point: A Health Church Must Understand The Gospel Rightly.
Are You Resting In The Gospel Today?
Let’s pray together!
