Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

1TI

Over the past 10-12 years an old human desire has taken on new and expanded meaning.

From our very earliest days we learn that part of what it means to be human is the fact that we appear before others.

We have a public presence.

And all of us want to have a positive public presence.

We want others to think well of us.

This desire has taken on new meaning with the explosion of social media.

It’s not a stretch to say that participating on social media means that the public you’re appearing before could be the whole world.

What was reserved for the most famous celebrities is now available to teenagers in Columbia, MD.

So now we have a particular stress to deal with.

What am I going to select as my profile picture.

FB, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.

What image do I want to project for myself.

That’s an added pressure.

Nobody wakes up in the morning, reaches over to grab their smartphone, takes a selfie and says, “this is going to be my profile picture.”

You don’t do that because you know that people will scrutinize you based on your profile picture.

You want people to click “like” and comment “lookin good!” when they see your profile picture.

Well, here’s the deal, for the minister of Jesus Christ, a fundamental aspect of his call is just that; having his life on display, exposed to the public scrutiny of others.

This section of 1 Timothy begins in v. 6 where the apostle Paul says,

For the minister of Christ Jesus, a fundamental aspect of his call is just that; having his life on display, exposed to the public scrutiny of others.

In this section of 1 Timothy, which begins in v.6

Down in v. 11 he’s still concerned to instruct Timothy and the church on what it means to be a good minister of Christ Jesus.

He’s giving us the pastor’s profile picture, and he gets personal and emphatic.

Of the 16 verbs in these six verses, ten of them are imperatives.

Ten of them are charges to Timothy.

These charges help to paint that profile picture.

Paul’s message to Timothy was that his life was to be lived before the people, not just behind the pulpit.

Why?

Because as Phil Ryken says in his commentary on this text,

Well he’s still concerned to instruct Timothy and the church on what it means to be a good minister of Christ Jesus.

In our text for today, however, he gets a bit more personal and emphatic.

Of the 16 verbs in these six verses, ten of them are imperatives.

Ten of them are charges to Timothy.

These charges help display for us the profile of a good minister of Christ.

Far from what is too often the case today where the minister’s life is a shroud of secrecy because he’s not accessible to the congregation, Paul’s message to Timothy was that his life was to be lived before the people, not just behind the pulpit.

Why?

Because as Phil Ryken says in his commentary on this text,

For better and for worse, to a greater or lesser extent, congregations are made in the image of their pastors.

So, four things from this text on the the pastor’s profile picture: Picturing Authority, Picturing the Example, Picturing the Gift and Picturing the Impact.

Picturing Authority

The first part of the profile picture is authority.

A simple sentence in v. 11.

The phrase, “these things,” occurs eight times in this letter.

It sums up the instructions and orders that Paul had given Timothy, which he was to continue passing on to the churches in Ephesus.

In other words, he was to be continually engaged in commanding and teaching the apostolic instructions.

Here is a reality that rubs up against our impulse to push back against authority.

We choose what church we want to attend.

We choose how much we want to participate.

And, as we see today, we even get to choose who our pastor will be.

City of Hope, you have selected Rev. Brian Wood to be your pastor.

And that means you have selected him as one who has true spiritual authority.

He is someone who has the responsibility to teach and, yes, command in Jesus name, to trust and obey God’s word.

Here’s that phrase again, “these things.”

It occurs eight times in this letter.

It sums up the instructions and orders that Paul had given Timothy, which he was to continue passing on to the churches in Ephesus.

In other words, he was to be continually engaged in commanding and teaching the apostolic instructions.

Ryken,

“[This] is a reminder that a teaching elder has true spiritual authority.

It is his responsibility to teach—even to command, in God’s name—his congregation to trust and obey the doctrine he has received from the apostles.”

We can be confused and/or suspect of a pastor’s spiritual authority in the church.

These days the pendulum swings to two extremes.

There’s the, “touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm” crowd (; ) who mistakingly think that you’re out of order if you scrutinize anything that the pastor says or does.

(We’re not Jesus…) Then there’s the other extreme of an unwillingness to submit to biblical authority because, “he’s just a man and can’t tell me what to do.”

The minister’s authority is a spiritual authority, but it’s nonetheless a real authority.

And our text is a corrective for both unbiblical extremes.

The corrective is seen in the way that spiritual authority is exercised.

Paul says in v. 13

He had said in 3:14 that he hoped to come to Ephesus soon.

Here he implies that there are some things that he’ll take over when he gets there, but until then Timothy is to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.

Make no mistake about it, this is the exercise of spiritual authority.

He is to read the word of God publicly.

Then he is to exhort the congregation.

This exhortation is a charge to move the heart and the will of the people by preaching.

Preaching what?

Preaching the Scriptures that he’s publicly read.

Not only that, he’s to teach and instruct.

This is both public and private explanation of Christian doctrine.

So the minister’s authority is real… but it is exercised properly only as it is exercised under the authority of God’s word.

A pastor has no right to say you ought to do this or that unless it is in line with what God’s word says and requires.

If it is, then Pastor Wood is charged to say it and we’re charged to heed it.

Paul says… He had said in 3:14 that he hoped to come to Ephesus soon.

Here he implies that there are some things that he’ll take over when he gets there, but until then Timothy is to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.

Make no mistake about it, this is the exercise of spiritual authority.

He is to read the word of God publicly.

Then he is to exhort the congregation.

This exhortation is a charge to move the heart and the will of the people by preaching.

Preaching what?

Preaching the Scriptures that he’s publicly read.

Not only that, he’s to teach and instruct.

This is both public and private explanation of Christian doctrine.

So the minister’s authority is real… but it is exercised properly only as it is exercised under the authority of God’s word.

I have no right to say you ought to do this or that unless it is in line with what God’s word says and requires.

If it is, then I’m charged to say it and you’re charged to heed it.

Authority is one facet of the profile, and it gets filled in more as Paul begins to picture the pastor’s example.

Picturing the Example

Paul was anticipating that this exercise of authority in the church might be problematic for Timothy, so he says to him in v.12

Timothy was in his 30’s and still a young man, so the older folks may have had an issue being under the authority of this young buck.

Timothy was in his 30’s and still a young man, so the older folks may have had an issue being under the authority of this young buck.

Paul addresses the problem of a minister’s authority by laying out the profile of a minister’s example.