1st Timothy Pt. 2: The Midtown Creed

I Timothy 1:12-20 (ESV)

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (v.12-14)

– Notice the repeated “Christ Jesus”, unlike the other apostles who knew Him as Jesus first then came to know Him as Lord. Paul met Him after His resurrection, and came to know Him as Jesus. That’s when he understood that he was a guilty, lawbreaker. He violated all of God’s laws against heaven and earth. He did claim ignorance, but he did not claim that ignorance made him innocent of the guilt.

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. (v.15)

– This is one of the five “trustworthy” statements in Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus. It was a likely a creed or key doctrinal confession of the first century church. The Lord Himself said that He “came to seek and save the lost” and that He “did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (v.16-17)

– Paul was saved so that God could display His grace and mercy to others. He saved the worst, so that no one can claim that some people are just too far gone or too bad to be saved. Paul became a living testimony to light the way for others to go from death to life. His testimony is recorded 6 other times in the New Testament. God be praised!

This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. (v.18-20)

– Timothy was called by God to ministry and gifted to continue the gospel in the next generation when the apostles would be gone. His “good conscience” would be a rudder to steer him around the rocks of sin and lies. But some rejected the faith (the content and doctrine of the truth, perhaps this very creed) and destroyed themselves. H & A were spiritual catastrophes. They turned away to lies and Paul put them out of the church with redemptive intent. Paul was a blasphemer and was taught by God not to blaspheme. And God would do the same for them, while the work of God would continue and the church’s well-being safeguarded.

This statement is completely reliable and should be universally accepted – Christ Jesus entered the world to rescue sinners. I realize that I was the worst of them all. (v. 15, JB Phillips)

– Paul formerly regarded the Nazarenes as a dangerous cult. He met the Nazarene and was never the same again. He had been the Sanhedrin’s chief tormentor. Blood had covered his hands. This verse describes a sure reality. How sure is it? Think about the lives of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. How the knew Him? The effects He had on them. How reliable is the record/testimony of those four men? Without them, we would know almost nothing about Jesus of Nazareth. The father of apologetics, Simon Greenleaf, Harvard law professor, put these men on trial and applied all the laws of evidence. His conclusion: “by all the laws of evidence, these four men are absolutely credible witnesses.” Have you accepted this truth? The pardon is available to you, but will never be compelled upon you. You must repent and believe for yourself.

Summary Points:

– No one is too bad to be saved; but perhaps too good?

– We face controversies because we hold on to this creed. The strife distracts us and tempts us to ignore the next world.

– Have you fully accepted this truth? Have you committed your life to follow Christ?

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1st Timothy: Cultural Foundations Of Christ’s Church

Pt. 1: USING SCRIPTURE AS GOD INTENDED

1st Timothy 1:1-11 [NASB 1995]

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope.

  • This is a declaration of his truest identity: SENT for Christ, by Christ, of Christ
  • He didn’t appoint Himself
  • HE RECOGNIZES WHO GOD MADE HIM TO BE
  • He is committed to obedience [He does as God commands]
  • Paul’s theology: God and Christ are known to be ONE

2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

  • What does Paul mean His ‘True’ child in the faith? [Sonship in that culture]
  • He has seen the reality of Timothy’s faith from His actions
  • Paul knows Timothy HAS received: Grace / Mercy / Peace… FROM GOD!
  • This is why Paul is entrusting so much responsibility to Timothy [PROVEN]
  • Paul trusts what He tells Timothy to do for himself & others, will be enacted

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, 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.

  • Keep on doing what I asked you to do:
  • Stay @ Ephesus
  • Teach Certain Men… we assume they know who they are talking about
  • Non biblical stuff [tradition]
  • Jewish people put a lot of weight on genealogies
  • These things do not help people grow in Christ! [What does?]

5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

  • THE goal of Christian Discipleship: LOVE
  • Real Love, God patterned Love
  • Pure Heart / Good Conscience / Sincere Faith
  • Only God can make this happen!
  • The goal of ‘Their’ instruction is the same for Midtown Church

6 For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, 7 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.

  • Why does Timothy need to teach these men? They are creating bad culture!
  • They want to interpret the Torah without understanding ‘The Author’
  • Their pride is driving them… [they want to be teachers] not a desire from God
  • What they are doing is ‘Fruitless’…God’s people are called to bear fruit [Jn. 15]

8 But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, [the way God meant it to be used] 9 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…

  • The Law [Torah] is good when used as God intended…
  • The Scripture is not the problem…people misusing it are [Gun Control]
  • The key to using The Law as God intended: Not for those God makes righteous
  • It is to expose the rebellious, those who mock their creator, openly against God
  • Broad labels of people…so let’s look at the specific behaviors of such people

The law is a schoolmaster teaching us to recognize our need for Christ. Once we surrender to Christ, we do no require that particular tutoring any longer.

Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. ~ Galatians 3:24-25

THE LAW WAS MADE:

…for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers 10 and for immoral men [fornicators] and for homosexuals and for kidnappers and for liars and for perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

  • These are ‘Lifestyles’, not giving in to temptation at times
  • Dishonoring and neglect
  • Now we are talking about murder = killing for your reasons
  • Sex between a man and a woman outside of marriage
  • Sex between people of the same gender
  • Human traffickers / slave-masters
  • Scammers /con artists
  • Corruptors of legal systems

SUMMARY / APPLICATION

Paul’s entire life purpose and identity flowed from His Faith In Christ.

~ Should every Christian live this way or just Paul? How about You?

Timothy, at a young age, duplicated Paul’s commitment to Christ.

~ Should every Christian respond to discipleship this way?

Timothy was charged with creating and enforcing standards for Biblical Discipleship.

~ How important is it for a Body of Christ to teach the right things?

Timothy was to demonstrate the God intended use of Torah In Light of Christ

~ How well do you understand the whole message of the Old & New Testaments?

Who is under the Law???

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Nehemiah Pt. 19: You Gotta Fight!

Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for His service. ~ Nehemiah 13:14

  • Why does Nehemiah ask God not to wipe out what he did?
  • Because it was for ‘God’s Place’ & ‘God’s Glory’ in the lives of God’s people
  • Not self promotion! Nehemiah has God’s heart for God’s people [CH. 1]
  • Nehemiah understood what is best for God’s people, for Christ’s people
  • To live by God’s commands, ordinances and principals [HIS will & ways]

We have seen God re-constitute His people, in His place [Jerusalem] and they proclaimed HIS glory in dedicating the wall! The nation is one in repentance and committing to live based on God’s will and ways…

In last week’s passage we heard what happened when Nehemiah went back to Persia to visit King Artaxerxes. The High Priest had given place to God’s enemies in God’s Holy Temple BIG DEAL. The communal system that enabled everyone to share in worship had been corrupted and hijacked to benefit a local official [Tobiah] Nehemiah throws all of Tobiah’s stuff out and re-consecrates the Temple, restoring the regular support of the levites to serve.

Nehemiah 13:15-31 [CJB]

15 During this time, I saw in Judah some people who were treading winepresses on the Sabbath, also bringing in heaps of grain and loading donkeys with it, likewise wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads; and they were bringing them into Jerusalem on the day of the Sabbath. On the day when they were planning to sell the food, I warned them not to. 16 There were also living there people from Tyre who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the people in Judah and even in Jerusalem.

  • Nehemiah had gone back to Susa after The Wall was dedicated, then returned
  • These activities directly violate the letter and the spirit of sabbath practice
  • God’s people were letting ungodly people dictate culture to them
  • Dishonoring of The Sabbath is a attack at the cornerstone of Jewish Culture
  • The Sabbath serves as a weekly reminder of God’s Sovereignty & Care

17 I disputed with the nobles of Judah, demanding of them, “What is this terrible thing you are doing, profaning the day of the Sabbath? 18 Didn’t your ancestors do this, and didn’t our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you are bringing still more fury against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!”

  • Nehemiah called to account those who were allowing the sabbath breaking
  • Nehemiah basically says: ‘Haven’t you learned??’
  • It was a foundational part of a walk with God: the honoring of the Sabbath
  • What is the theology behind the Sabbath for a Christ follower? [RE-CREATION]
  • It is about taking time out from your normal work life to focus on God
  • We don’t take a break from ministry on the Sabbath…

19 So when the gates of Jerusalem began to grow dark before the Sabbath, I ordered that the doors be shut; and I ordered that they not be reopened until after the Sabbath. I put some of my servants in charge of the gates, to see to it that no loads be brought in on the Sabbath. 20 The merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice, 21 until I warned them, “Why are you spending the night by the wall? Do it again, and I’ll use force against you!” From then on they stopped coming on the Sabbath.

  • Nehemiah is moved to action
  • He is going to regulate the behavior of the people to build a habit
  • The threat of force… is it Christ-like?
  • You have to confront outside influences that dishonor the God of the Bible
  • You Gotta Fight…For Your God: YAHWEH!
  • Satan influences bullies…when you stand up to them they retreat

22 Then I ordered the Levites to purify themselves and come and guard the gates, in order to keep the day of the Sabbath holy. My God, remember this too for me, and have mercy on me in keeping with the greatness of your grace!

  • To make sure this practice didn’t start back up, ‘Spiritual Oversight’ put in place
  • Nehemiah asks God to validate his action to keep the sabbath holy
  • He knows he is not worthy but pleads for God’s undeserved favor [Grace]

23 Also during this time I saw the men Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab; 24 As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them knew how to speak the language of Judah, but only the language of his own people. 25 I disputed with them and cursed them, and I beat some of them up and pulled out their hair. Then I made them swear by God, “You will not give your daughters as wives for their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves.”

  • Ashdod = Philistines [God ordered the Israelites to eliminate them]
  • Ammon & Moab: Last week we heard they were to be excluded…
  • The intermarriage was altering their culture [language is one example]
  • God’s people cannot stand for the degradation of their Scripture based culture
  • These are examples of what we call ‘Slippery Slopes’
  • Nehemiah argues, curses & physically reprimands them [corporal punishment]
  • Then he makes them swear an oath by God: They must have been persuaded!

26 Wasn’t it by doing these things that Solomon king of Israel sinned? There was no king like him among many nations, and his God loved him, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin. 27 Are we to give in to you and let you continue in this very great evil, breaking faith with our God by marrying foreign women?

  • The example from God’s Word is definitive
  • Even the Greatest King of Israel compromised his obedience for foreign wives
  • So why would you even think about doing it???

28 One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the high priest, had become son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; so I drove him out of my presence. 29 ‘My God, remember them; because they have defiled the office of the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites’. 30 Thus I cleansed them of everything foreign, and I had the priests and the Levites resume their duties, each one in his appointed task. 31 I also made provision for the delivery of wood at stated times, and for the first-fruits.

  • Grandson of the High Priest married a Horonite [from Horoniam, a city in Moab]
  • Nehemiah exiled him from Jerusalem / removal of the corrupt influence
  • He asks God to enact judgement on Eliashib, Joiada and his son [spiritual]
  • Nehemiah stepped in to personally get things right
  • Cleansed of foreign influences, the Levites and Priests resumed their duties…

My God, remember me favorably.

  • God, I have lived based on your will and ways
  • God, I have stood up for YOU and your Word

SUMMARY:

If you belong to God, YOU form your life around HIS Word. [Streams of Culture]

God has blessed HIS people with the principal of Sabbath. [Work 6 days, Rest 1]

For God’s people, marriage joins man & woman based on a shared worldview.

Values and culture that dishonors God are to be confronted and fought against.

Having Studied The Book of Nehemiah…

SO HOW ARE WE GOING TO LIVE?

Ways Christ’s Church is to live from Nehemiah

  • LIVING BY PRAYER = Praying as God’s Word Directs [His Heart]
  • LIVING BY GOING = Kingdom Focus & Purpose Directing Life Choices
  • LIVING BY WORKING = Kingdom Building Where God Places YOU
  • LIVING BY CARING = Treating People Based on God’s Standards
  • LIVING BY WARRING = Prepared to Fight for God’s Principals and Purposes
  • LIVING BY GOD’S WORD = Commitment to Reading & Applying Scripture
  • LIVING BY REPENTING = Humility & Contrition Before Your God
  • LIVING BY WORSHIPING = Lifestyle of Giving Thanks, Praise & Glory to God
  • LIVING FOR COMMUNITY = Financial, Emotional & Spiritual Faith Family
  • LIVING BY GOD’S WORD = Realigning YOUR life in serious, meaningful ways
  • LIVING FOR GOD’S HONOR = Culture & Lifestyle that Fully Honors Christ
  • LIVING BY RENEWAL = Building & Rebuilding A Walk with Christ
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