Avoiding Shipwreck
Notes
Transcript
18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Introduction
Introduction
Paul gives his testimony in verses 11-17 of this chapter, he talks about his position as a servant, his past as a sinner, his personal salvation, and his precious Savior…I’m not sure there is anything better to talk about, do ya’ll?
But here in our text today, we see the testimony that Paul charges Timothy to maintain during his ministry. It’s an important lesson to all of God’s people!
No one is immune to the temptation to wander from the Gospel…No pastor, deacon, teacher, no member of the church is exempt from the warning given in these verses...
In these verses before us we see the encouragement given to Timothy in verse 18…we see the endangerment of shipwreck in verse 19…we see the examples of those who are shipwrecked in verse 20…and we see the enemy behind it all in verse 20, who is none other than Satan...
Satan has always been our enemy, and he always will be our enemy!
We are at war and the church must fight the good fight of faith. Often we have to be reminded of the importance and the intensity of this spiritual battle.
Paul admonished and encouraged Timothy to fight on, press on, and to fulfill the course which God had set out for him. It does not matter the size of the church, the location of the church, or the history of the church, there is spiritual warfare going on in and around us. We must never turn away from God’s word and the fundamentals of the Christian faith. We must fight the enemy and those who wish to corrupt the church with false teaching.
Paul reminded Timothy that the fight was on. The fight is on and we are not to lay down our weapons, give in to the enemy, throw in the towel, or give up on Jesus.
Christians are to fight the foe by faith and fight for the faith.
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Do you have courage to stand against those who oppose God’s word?
Do you have strength to stand against those who deny God’s word?
Are we willing to fight for what is right?
Satan is fighting the child of God every day trying to shipwreck each one of us!
The picture here is that each one of us is on a boat, and we are sailing the seas of life, and I don’t know about ya’ll, but I sunk ship is not a good thing…We don’t have time to let our guard down, the Bible tells us to be sober, to be vigilant!
Why? Cause Satan is out there, watching, and waiting for us not be on the lookout, and when we aren’t, he’ll fire the rockets aimed at our ship, and if we’re not careful, he will shipwreck us!
What I’d like to preach about for just a little while is how to avoid the shipwreck!
The Bible does give us the things we need in these few verses so that we can avoid the shipwreck…Let’s take a look at them:
I-Be Committed To The Father
I-Be Committed To The Father
1 Timothy 1:18 (KJV 1900)
18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee...
Paul tells Timothy that he is giving him a “charge”.
This is a military words and it refers to a superior issuing commands to a subordinate. In other words, Paul is telling Timothy that he has the responsibility to obey his words! He has a duty to listen to and carry out the orders of the Apostle!
Listen, the same is true for the believer! The first step in walking with God as we should lies in our willingness to obey His revealed will as it is written in the Word of God! We have a mandate to obey the Word,
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Our obedience proves we love the Lord,
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Our obedience proves that we are saved by the grace of God,
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
II-Be Counted In The Fight
II-Be Counted In The Fight
1 Timothy 1:18 (KJV 1900)
18 ...that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
This warfare! There’s no such thing as sitting on the sidelines ya’ll!
We are all in a war!
We fight for the gospel in our lives. We’re in a war, in our lives, in our marriages, and in our families.
Whether you’re a teenager at school or a businessperson at work, a battle is raging all around you.
Spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms are active, and they are warring against your soul.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
The Devil and all the minions of hell will entice you with deceptions and incite you with divisions because they do not want the gospel to echo through your life, your marriage, your family, or any other area.
Don’t be caught off guard—you are in a war. So fight the good fight.
Stand strong amid all the challenges that come from outside and inside the church.
We fight for the gospel in our churches. Paul talked about Hymenaeus and Alexander being handed over to Satan in verse 20.
This is church discipline…and I want to add here that discipline is not punitive…It’s not done to punish anyone, it’s done out of love and a desire to help someone!
These two men were cast out of the church to show that they were separated from Christ, with the hope and prayer that they would realize their error and return to Christ.
Let us remember that these were saved men. They were Christians. This is the reason why they were disciplined.
God doesn’t discipline unsaved people. The sad thing about them is that God leaves them alone to continue in sin until they become sick of it, and convicted. These men were not mere professors. They had come to a saving knowledge of Christ. They were led astray by the enemy. This is serious. They had resorted to false teaching
Paul was essentially telling Timothy, “You and the church must take severe measures at certain times to fight for this gospel.”
Whatever you do, hold on to the gospel. It is the only thing that unites the church, and it is the only thing that will sustain God’s people in difficult days. Indeed, it is a gospel worth guarding and defending, and it is a gospel worth celebrating forever.
III-Be Consistent In The Faith
III-Be Consistent In The Faith
19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
The faith is our doctrine, principles, and convictions we gather from the Word of God! Hold to them! No matter what!
And do it with a good conscience!
The following from Ray Stedman sheds some light on is for us: “I find a great deal of misunderstanding, even among Christians, on what the conscience is. Many feel that the conscience is given to us to teach us the difference between right and wrong. But nothing could be further from the truth. No, the conscience is given to us, rather, to resist any deviation from the truth, from the right and the wrong that we know. If you think it is given to us to indicate what is wrong or what is right, you will begin to rely upon your feelings to determine right and wrong. That is where many go astray—many young Christians, especially. They think their conscience is their feelings; and if they feel something is right then they do it.
You have seen the bumper stickers that say, “If it feels good, do it.” People actually believe that is following their conscience. Because of that philosophy thousands and thousands of lives are being warped and twisted.
The conscience is given to us so that when we know what is right and what is wrong, it insists that we do the right and avoid the wrong. But it is the Word of God that teaches us what is right and what is wrong. Conscience is like a gyroscope, set in a certain direction, which resists any tendency to deflect it. Conscience, however, can be set in a wrong direction, then it will guide us wrongly. Revelation, the Word of God, is what tells us what is right and what is wrong. Conscience is given to us to help us know when we are beginning to fail, or fall away from that right path.
In other words, a good conscience is a synonym for an obedient heart which wants to do what God says is right. That is what Paul is talking about. Wherever God speaks, and you know what he tells you to do, regardless of what your flesh or your feelings say, obey; do what God says. That is the way to maintain a good conscience. If you fail, correct it instantly by the provision that God has made: confess, repent, set it straight, then go on with God.
The Christian life is these two things working constantly: to know what is right, and, by the power and grace of God, to resolve to do it. That is waging a good warfare. How beautifully that maintains the biblical balance between the sovereignty of God and the free will of man! Here is the secret of Christian vitality. When God tells you what is right, by his grace, relying on him, choose to do it.
This is so important that Paul expands on it. He says, “By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith.” These are people who know the truth, but because they have not chosen to obey it, they not only have wandered away, they have eventually damaged their faith. They start believing wrong instead of right. They know what is right, but they are no longer able to do it.”
Simply put, it is dangerous to operate on feelings apart from the leadership of the Word of God. This is a recipe for disaster.
A life that is not centered in the word of God has no spiritual framework to guide the conscience. Therefore, if you do what you think is right, based on your conscience, without a clear Word from God, you will be headed straight for shipwreck.
Be consistent in the faith!
Conclusion
Conclusion
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
Timothy was a soldier in the army of the Lord and he was to be waging war! Timothy fought in the spiritual warfare that is the war for man’s soul. It is a good warfare that must not be neglected, abandoned, or forsaken. Too many today who claim to know Jesus have abandoned their posts and gone AWOL.
What about you?
Avoid shipwreck today! Plan to finish strong in the faith! NOT WEAK!
Anyone can shipwreck, young or old…New converts, or experienced converts!
We must be like the apostle Paul and keep pressing toward the mark until the Lord calls us home!