Bible Talks - Family Church (9:45am)
Series: 1 Timothy
Apostolic Doctrine
Sunday, 19 September 2004
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1 Timothy opens “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Most readers find Timothy a very congenial character. We feel that he is a normal person like one of us. He was anything but a stained-glass saint. A halo wouldn’t have sat comfortably on his head. But he’s not just a carboard cut-out figure. As we read the Apostle Paul’s letters to him and the references to him in Acts and some of Paul’s other correspondence we see that he was a real human being like us, with all the infirmity and vulnerability which that entails.
We know that he was still comparatively young when Paul addressed this letter to him, for he told him not to let anyone look down on him on account of his youth (4:12), and some two years later in 2 Timothy Paul urged him to 'flee the evil desires of youth' (2 Tim. 2:22). And putting 2 & 2 togther to get 5 or 6 it seems he was in his mid-thirties, just a young whipper-snapper. Timothy himself evidently felt inexperienced and immature for the heavy respons?ibility which Paul was laying upon him and we gather that he was temperamentally shy, needing affirmation, encouragement and reassurance. Timothy was also physically infirm, and suffered from a recurrent gastric problem, for Paul referred to his habitual ailments, in particular to his stomach for which he even prescribed a little medicinal alcohol.
So this is the profile of Timothy which we can construct from a number of Paul's references to him. He was young, diffident and frail. These three handicaps might have been thought to disqualify him from taking charge of the churches in and around Ephesus. But they endear him to us, and the grace of God was sufficient for his need: 'You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus ' (2 Tim. 2: 1).
The circumstance of the letter was that Paul was expecting to visit Timothy in Ephesus soon, and would, then of course, as an apostle, assume responsibility for the churche., But he seems to have anticipated the possibility of being delayed, and so sends Timothy these written instructions, so that during his absence Timothy would know how to regulate the life of the churches that were under his charge. So, this letter, although addressed to Timothy personally, is not just a private communication. It is written to him in his official capacity, and throughout it Paul is looking beyond Timothy to the churches.
This letter, along with 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon are called the “Pastoral Epistles” since they are concerned with the pastoral care and oversight of local churches. In this letter the Apostle Paul addresses six main topics:
1. The church's doctrine and how to preserve it intact, uncorrupted by false teaching
2. The church's public worship, its global intercession for all humankind, together with the roles of men and women in the conduct of it (2:1‑15).
3. The church's pastorate, and in particular the conditions of eligibility for presbyters and deacons (33‑16).
4. The church's local leadership, specially how younger leaders can ensure that their teaching is listened to and not despised (4.11 ‑ 5:2).
5. The church's social responsibilities, not only to widows, but also to elders and to slaves (5:3 ‑ 61).
6. The church's attitude to material possessions (6:3-21)
In these topics there is wisdom for the local church in every generation and every place.
The beginning of the letter is conventional. Paul announces himself as the author, Timothy as his correspondent, and God as the source of the grace, mercy and peace which he wishes him to enjoy.
Now let’s look at the first topic
The church's doctrine and how to preserve it intact, uncorrupted by false teaching
This differentiation between sound and false doctrine strikes a discordant note at the beginning of the 21st century. As I spoke about last Sunday, post-modern pluralism affirms the independent validity of every religion as a culturally conditioned phenomenon, and frowns on any attempt to convert people to a particular point of view. Indeed, one of the chief tenets of 'post-modernism' is that there is no such thing as objective truth, let alone universal and eternal truth. On the contrary, everybody has his or her own truth. You have yours, and I have mine, and they may diverge widely from each other, even contradict each other. In consequence, the most prized virtue is tolerance. It tolerates everything except the intolerance of those who insist, that certain ideas are true and others false, while certain practices are good and others evil. So where does Paul and his minion Timothy get off thinking that they can uphold the truth and refute false teaching?
No follower of Jesus Christ can possibly embrace this complete subjectivism of post-modernism for Jesus said he was the truth, that he had come to bear witness to the truth, that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and that the truth will set us free. So truth matters, the truth which God has revealed through Christ and by the Spirit. Jesus also told us to beware of false teachers. So did his apostles.
In fact Paul urges Timothy to stay in Ephesus precisely in order to stop the spread of false teaching. He refers successively to three teachers or groups of teachers.
Firstly: The false teachers and the law (v3‑11)
Paul had predicted some five years previously, in the letter we know as Ephesians, that 'savage wolves' would enter and devastate Christ's flock in Ephesus and this prediction had come true. But who were they? And what were they teaching? Paul writes that they want to be teachers of the law (7). Thus the false teachers are now identified as law‑teachers. This latter word can denote a perfectly legitimate activity, however. Luke uses it of the scribes who taught the Mosaic law and even of the illustrious Gamaliel. So what is wrong with teaching the law? There is actually a great need in our day for Christian teachers of the God's moral law for it is through the teaching of the law that we both come to a consciousness of our sin and learn the implications of loving our neighbour. Indeed, we know that the law is good if one uses it properly. Evidently, then, there is both a right and a wrong, a legitimate and an illegitimate, use of the law; so what were the false teachers doing with the law which was wrong?
In v4 Timothy is to command the false teachers not to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. (4). It seems that the false teaching was primarily a Jewish aberration in which they treated the law that is, the Old Testament as a happy hunting‑ground for their conjectures about the lives and exploits of its characters. A bit like some of the pseudo gospels that arose later which gave supposed details of Jesus’ boyhood in which he made doves out of clay and hey flew away or he was supposed to have visited Brittain with his uncle Joseph of Aremethea.
At the same time, the false teachers showed Gnostic tendencies. For example, they were forbidding marriage and enjoining abstinence from certain foods (4:3f.). This indicated a false asceticism which was incompatible with the doctrine of creation and symptomatic of the Gnostic rejection of matter as evil. Paul indicates two consequences of the false teaching: It obstructs both faith and love. It undermined faith by removing certainty about the meaning of God's word and it undermined love by fostering controversy.
Paul says that they want to be teachers of the law but they don’t know what they are talking about. In contrast to their ignorance Paul sets his knowledge of the truth of God. We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made for lawbreakers. Putting together these two truths which, Paul says, we know, we reach the striking statement that the lawful use of the law is for the lawless. All law is designed for those whose natural tendency is not to keep it but to break it. 'Not the saint but the sinner is the law's target." Unmasking and judging them, restraining them, and correcting and directing them.
Paul illustrates the principle of 'law for the lawless' with eleven examples of law‑breaking in V9-11
8We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
We see that Paul equates the law and the gospel. Being saved by faith in Jesus Christ does not remove from us the requirement that we obey God's moral law.
Paul then turns to himself and the gospel which has been entrusted to him. He makes an extremely personal statement. He recalls his conversion and commissioning. His whole life is permeated with thanksgiving, not only for his salvation but also for the privilege of having been made an apostle.
He thanks Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given him strength, considered him faithful and appointed him to his service. He reminds Timothy that he Paul, had been a blasphemer, a persecutor of the church and a violent man.
His 'blasphemy' was that he spoke evil of Jesus Christ and had also tried to force them Jesus' followers to blaspheme. His persecution of the church was pursued 'intensely', for he 'tried to destroy it'," and in persecuting it he did not realize that he was persecuting Christ. Then behind both the blasphemy and the persecution he was a violent man finding satisfaction in insulting and humiliating other people.
Paul then describes how he received mercy. Humanly speaking, there was no hope for someone as malicious and aggressive as he was. But he was not beyond the mercy of God. Twice he says “I was shown mercy” He marvels that the grace of our Lord was poured out on him abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Filled with the wonder of this grace and mercy Paul goes on to quote the first of the five 'trustworthy sayings' which occur in the Pastoral Epistles. “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” This first 'trustworthy saying' is a concise summary of the gospel, a gospel that is true and trustworthy, in contrast to the speculative nonsense of the false teachers and in today’s context, the lies of secular propaganda.
The offer of the gospel is universal. “Full acceptance” means universal acceptance as well as full acceptance by the individual. It is also personal as shown by Paul referring to himself as the worst of sinners. Common sense tells us not to take his statement as a precise, scientific fact. For he had not investigated the sinful and criminal records of all the inhabitants of the world, carefully compared himself with them, and concluded that he was worse than them all. The truth is rather that when we are convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit, an immediate result is that we give up all such comparisons. Paul was so vividly aware of his own sins that he could not conceive that anybody could be worse. It is the language of every sinner whose conscience has been awakened and disturbed by the Holy Spirit. We may begin like the Pharisee in Jesus' parable, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men', but when we are convicted by the Holy Spirit we end like the tax collector who beat his breast and said 'God have mercy on me, the sinner.”
So this first 'trustworthy saying' tells us that the gospel is true and trustworthy, it is intended for everybody, it concerns Jesus Christ and his work of salvation, and it must be received by each of us individually.
Athough Paul had been a blasphemer and a violent persecutor, the grace of Christ had overwhelmed him. He received mercy partly because of his ignorant unbelief and partly in order to display for the benefit of future generations the limitless patience of Christ. It was this experience of Christ's grace, mercy and patience which underlay Paul’s evangelistic enthusiasm. No wonder Paul broke out into that spontaneous doxology given in v17 “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
So far Paul has referred both to the teachers of the law (and their false gospel) and to himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ (and the true gospel). Now Timothy has to choose which of the two he is going to follow. On the one hand, the apostle is urging him to silence the false teachers; on the other he must feel the insidious influence of their speculations. He cannot remain neutral, and sit on the fence, even though he is young, inexperienced, impressionable and retiring. Now as then the truth demands a verdict. ,
Paul begins by describing the context in which he is writing. He reminds Timothy both of the special father‑son relationship which bound them together and of the circumstances of his ordination: Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight. Timothy is to defend the revealed truth of God against those who deny or distort it. In particular, Timothy must keep holding on to faith and a good conscience. which is exactly what Hymenaeus and Alexander have failed to do.
We don’t really know much about these two. Hymenaeus is presumably the same heretic who is mentioned in 2 Timothy 2:17 as teaching “that the resurrection had already taken place." But we don’t know anything about Alexander. But so serious was their apostasy that Paul wrote of them: “I have handed them over to Satan” which means excommunication.
So summing up: This first chapter of 1 Timothy concerns the place of doctrine in the local church. Paul gives valuable instruction about false teaching. Its essential nature is that it is deviation from revealed truth. Its damaging results are that it replaces faith with speculation and love with dissension. Its fundamental cause is the rejection of a good conscience before God.
What then should Timothy do in such a situation? Paul does not tell him to secede from the church, which would have been one extreme reaction. But neither may he remain silent in the face of heresy, let alone compromise with it, which would have been the opposite extreme. Instead, he was to stay at his post, and to fight the good fight of the faith, both demolishing error and contending earnestly for the truth.
Let us pray.
