A Series Based on the Timothy/Titus Letters 6-1-14 PM
God s People A PEOPLE FOR GOD S OWN PURPOSE AND POSSESSION. GOD S INTENTION AND USE. 1 Pet. 2:9- A CHOSEN RACE, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR GOD S OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
God s People 10 - once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY. My claim from the beginning, is that this is a description of THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, THE CHURCH AS GOD PLANNED IT.
The Church The church does NOT decide its construct, organization, or mission. We RECEIVE these directions from GOD. MT. 18:18 [RE. HIS CHURCH]- "Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. In other words, the dictates of the church of Christ come from Heaven, and not earth. From God and from not men.
Ready to Soar? And even as these come down to us from above, so God wants us to look up to Him and His Son and to set our minds on things above and Believe and Soar. Far too many churches are grounded by fear, when they should be flying in faith!
NOT Opinion! Paul was NOT writing to Timothy from his own opinion, or from his own viewpoint. 1 Tim. 1:1 says that - Paul, {AS} an Apostle of Christ Jesus, {was writing} according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, This is NOT cultural (a common argument). NOT geographical. NOT historical (meaning antiquated). IT IS DIVINELY INSPIRED, ETERNALLY BINDING, SPIRITUAL TRUTH.
Early Warning My true child in the faith { do what your father in the faith [Paul] would do if he were there}. Lead and Teach the same Gospel principles I taught you, and which you learned from your Mother and Grandmother, (2 Tim. 1:5) regarding the work of faith. The Inspired Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
Stay at your Post 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. This is fundamental to the letter. The local church needs Leadership. They need Direction. They need Guidance. That s your job, Timothy, and if you leave, who then will they follow? The teachers of strange doctrines? The mythologists? The genealogists?
Stay at your Post Would you, soldier of the Cross, now leave your post, when so many enemies of the Truth still dwell within the borders of the Kingdom! Would you leave the local church, now, when she needs you the most?
Stay and Lead 2 Tim. 4:5 Be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
The Goal- Without Wax 5- The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith without wax. Starting with our own lives, Leaders are to transmit God s teachings, not simply in words alone, but in deeds and in especially in Love. They are to encourage faith, hope, and love, [love being the greatest], by offering faith, hope and love in their teachings and teaching style. And it must be from the heart, genuine, sincere, without wax.
Salt and Grace You see, Paul knew that doctrine, the salt of our message, while preserving in its nature, can also be biting and hard to swallow alone. That s why the main ingredient in the recipe must be GRACE. It must be a grace message, seasoned as it were with salt, not a salt alone meal. (Col. 4:6) People don t care what you know, until they know that you care.
Strange Teachings 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.
A Pure Motive What the church needed [then and now] is Balanced Leadership. Leaders who can rightly divide the Word of Truth. Leaders who can and will be able both to exhort in Sound Doctrine and to refute those who contradict. Always with the goal of Love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. And without any ulterior motive. That s the goal. That s the motivation.
Great Gain God s Leader does not base his confidence on the uncertainty of riches (1 Tim. 6:17). He does not serve for sordid gain. As Paul will say in chap. 1 Tim. 6:6 - godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment [with what God provides]. The great rewards of Leadership in the church are rarely physical. As God so often reminds His PEOPLE, the rewards of service in Christ are SPIRITUAL
Great Gain Even if someone were to gain great riches in this life, that gain is at best short-lived because, as someone put it, There are no U-Hauls behind hearses. (1 Tim. 6:7). What s more, greed, and the craving of wealth, more often than not, leads to all kinds of evil, and if left unchecked a desensitizing of the spirit, personal apostasy, and destruction! (1 Tim. 6:9 10).
Our Gracious God [God] richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment (1 Tim. 6:17). So then, Paul s exhortation for Leaders in 1 Tim. 6:18-19 is to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.
As Jesus said Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matt. 6:20; 19:21; Luke 12:33).
God s Leadership The person whom God calls into His Leadership must be a man who maintains sound doctrine, and who teaches and serves, according to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, with which [he has] been entrusted. (1:11). And not to be seen of men or rewarded by men.
1 Tim. 1:9a [The] Law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners. (Christians serve out of LOVE, not because of some legal obligation, or fear of punishment)
1 Tim. 1:9b-10 unholy and profane [behaviors] - including, {patricide} - those who kill their fathers or mothers, murder and all immorality, homosexuality, and kidnappings and lying and perjury, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching. THE DIRECT RESULT OF UNSOUND TEACHING
Our Job is to LEAD! I don t expect the world to LEAD men toward God. (Do you?) That s the CHURCH S job. That s our job. The church of Christ - as God planned it - LEADS SOCIETY. They seek to be thermostats and not thermometers.
Wrap Up V. (1-5) You Timothy, STAY set things right. V. (6-11) You Timothy, LEAD according to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, with which {you} have been entrusted. Message: You Timothy SOAR! Don t be discouraged. Don t give up. Don t forget the goal. Don t get sidetracked. Don t let the turkeys get you down.
A young native American boy discovered an eagles nest on the side of a Pueblo never his home. He climbed up to the nest and discovered an egg. He took the egg back to his home, but knowing that it still needed time to mature, he placed it in the nest of some turkeys his parents had on the farm.
In time the eagle hatched. And throughout its entire life, it walked about on the earth, picking and pecking at worms and generally living the life of a turkey.
But every once in a while, he would look up into the sky above the home, above the Pueblo bluffs, and see the eagles floating and flying regally and majestically on the winds. And he would often wish in his heart that he could fly like that.
Leaders, are you picking and pecking when you should be floating and flying?