The Point of Preaching

Text

1 Timothy 1:1–11 NASB95

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

The Point of Preaching

Timothy faced a daunting task:

The “job” was great

The men were errant and influential

He was young, he was ‘not a Paul’

Right away we see Paul establish that his apostolic calling was a divine one. Through this authoritative role,1 Tim 1:1-2 “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”

He straightaway let’s Timothy know what he is supposed to do in Ephesus. Paul previously warned the elders what could happen Acts 20:29 ““I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;”

Paul, tells Timothy to, 1 Tim 1:3 “As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines,”

Do not teach things that are different - Paul was always mindful to remind the churches that he laboured with to hold fast to what was taught

Gal 1:6 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;”

2 Thess 2:15 “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.”

1 Cor 15:2 “by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.”

What Paul taught was the “whole counsel of God” - Acts 20:27

Paul tells us why the word was so crucial to his ministry Acts 20:32 ““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.”

The word of God does too much for us for it to be ignored or mishandled.

When trouble/devil shows up, when the marriage seems like it’s failing, when my children are turning from God. The word is lamp, source of strength. It brings comfort, hope and strength.

BUT. . .the word of God is my teacher, my. . .instructor!!!

Paul knows the power and capabilties of the word

He knows there’s a point to the preaching

There is a PURPOSE for this

1 Tim 1:4 “nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.”

The phrase “gvie rise” means, cause to continue or maintain a certain condition. What the strange teaching does, is it gives rise to the wrong things. Then the purpose is not achieved!

The administration of God is not furthered (does not give rise)

This phrase is used by Paul to the Eph. three (3) x. it refers to the management and operation of the Christian house, God’s house - God’s work, mission and purpose is being neglected.

I beleive this speaks to the relevance of the word of God to the christian. We must be drenched in it!

The word of God producing faith continues God’s economy, but not when there is strife and not when our focus is shifted. APPL. People are unable to see God’s administration if the doctrine is not sound and there are quarrels.

It is not just winning souls, but reaching them. Then if they are won develop them Eph 4:11-13 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” The Administration in Action

The goal is not attained

The goal is to arouse LOVE [Context demands; a love for each other]

1 Cor 13:13 “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

1 Cor 13:1-3 “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”

Jn 13:34-35 ““A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.””

Christ did this for Paul 1Tim 1:12-14 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.”

Timothy was to be an example in love 1 Tim 4:12.

Love is a defining character of God’s people

Who? The certain men? All believers?

Tri-fold source of the love

A pure heart - seat of the will and emotion means free from hidden agendas and motives

Paul experienced this Php 1:15 “Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will;”

A good conscience - the moral compass (the inner weight that we cannot be freed from) - a personal self examination based on an accepted standard

1 Tim 1:19 “keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.”

1 Tim 4:2 “by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,”

For the conscience to be good it must first be taught

A sincere faith - a faith that is genuine, it is what it is

A faith that is not hypocritical. It does not say one thing and do something else

Paul knew about the love

Paul told Tim. to follow his love 2 Tim 3:9-10 “But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also. Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance,”

Eph 3: “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,”

2 Cor 5:14 “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;”

Rom 8:35 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”

This is how the mission gets done. If it’s fixed on God’s purpose and drenched in love.