1 Corinthians 16.13f

Title: Where have all the men gone?

Text: 1 Corinthians 16.13f

Intro: Where have all the men gone?

I hope I do not offend you. That is not my intent, but I can see from the start that the Gospel is offensive and I know some of you may feel slighted – when I say some of you, I mean the women. Please hear my heart. This message is intended for the male segment of our population. Understand, women, you raise men. Men cannot become men without the influence you bring. But today, please hear my heart and my alarm when I consider our text and ask: Where have all the men gone?

We find ourselves in 1 Corinthians 16.13f. As Paul is closing out his letter, he has 5 commands he presents to the Corinthian men. His address at this moment is to the men. His Command is clear, and he minces no words. It is a good time for us to do the same. Again, this message is for all of us, but it is directed mainly toward men.

The Feminist movements of the late 1800s and the 1960s have caused our men to cower. The moral revolution of the same period, intended to liberate women, has instead, imprisoned the man and hurt the woman. Sure, there are some wonderful advances for women (job opportunities, Title IX, etc.). I recognize that, but overall – those movements have left men confused as to what they should be, and how they should act.

Ben Shapiro, when asked about due process and sexual assault and how we are to basically believe women without due process (Think Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh) replied:

Ben Shapiro: The Left destroyed mores with regard to the relation of traditional sexes. So, the original idea was that men were supposed to act with honor and chivalry when protecting women. And women were supposed to look for, for example, relationships just as men were. Sexual activity was supposed to be confined, that was ideal, it was supposed to be confined to committed relationships, particularly marriage. Not everybody lived up to that, but a huge number of people did. In fact, once people got pregnant, people basically got married. There are studies from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s that showed a lot of 7-month pregnancies.

When you don’t teach men to protect women, you get men who will victimize women. And when you don’t teach women that they ought to cherish men who are responsible and good, all you end up doing is incentivizing bad male behavior.

The Feminist movement was not wrong when it said men are acting like pigs. They were wrong when they said women also ought to act like pigs, too and that this is a solution to our problem. 

After 50 years of this 2^nd wave of feminism, the young men of our world have abdicated their roles and chosen to no longer try or to be responsible. They are not pursuing a college education. They are not getting the training they need to care for a family. They are found in their rooms trying to conquer levels or stages in video games, instead of trying to conquer a young woman’s heart or attain some type of training to make a living and provide for their families.

Boys are told that they can no longer be boys. In schools and churches, they are told to sit and be idle. If they’re too rambunctious, they are given medication to slow them down and make them behave. There is a movement amongst us to have gender roles removed – let me correct that, to have gender removed from society. And the world is buying it. There are young men now, who identify as female and enter into physical competitions against females – yet, they are biologically male.

And, instead of identifying this as a mental illness, the world is playing this fantasy game with them. You and I are encouraged to play along. Use the names they choose. Use the pronouns or made-up words they choose.

Ill.: The Air Force Academy this past week, instituted new policies for their cadets on using woke language. No longer can you ask a soldier or a sailor if they got a letter from ‘mom’ and ‘dad’. You must use the gender-neutral term, ‘parents’. The following is posted in an article on Foxnews.com from the orientation at the Air Force Academy.

Have you seen the recruiting commercials the Russians are using and the most recent US Army recruiting ads? It is unbelievable the difference. Our US Army recruitment video appeals to those who wish to embrace the LGBTQ+ lifestyle and agenda. The US Army video shows us a girl and they never show her doing her job or any part of her life in reality. They only show a cartoon. The Russian military recruitment video shows a young man and they show him doing his job, going through his physical training, and jumping out of an airplane. When you watch the videos, side by side, it is clear that we need to begin learning how to speak Russian. We’re going to get… We’re doomed.

No! It’s time. It’s time to wake up and raise up our boys to be men. Godly men, men who care, who protect and defend a woman. I saw a video recently of a young woman on the subway in NYC. She was being harassed, mistreated, and abused by a teen thug – a male. There were other men on the subway, but they just looked the other way while this young man slapped and abused her.

Where have all the men gone?

Let’s read our text together. Paul is very clear here when he addresses the men: 1 Cor 16.13f; ¹³ Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. ¹⁴ Let all that you do be done in love.

Paul is using ‘military language’ here. It is clear in the 1st 4 commands. I could say some phrases from this pulpit this morning – some of you might catch them and others might not, but every man who served in the armed forces would catch those phrases – and know what I meant. There are phrases specific to the Army, the Marines, etc.

Paul is using language here that demonstrates this is a battle!

I. Be Watchful

Ill.: Someone has rightly said in a secular sense that the world can be divided into three categories: the few who make things happen, the many who watch things happen, and the vast majority who have no idea what in the world is happening.

Real men don’t just watch events unfold and they aren’t aloof to what’s happening. Real men engage. They may look like they’re just sitting on a wall, but they’re watching, observing, and engaging. Like a sentry on duty. You might not even know they’re there.

exp.: I’ve told you this before, this is the word from which we get our name “Gregory”. Actually, the Spanish transliteration is spot on with the Greek: Gregorio. Be Watchful! The imagery is of someone standing guard – maybe on a wall, maybe in the field, but they are on guard, nonetheless.

Ill.: I’ll never forget hiding in my barricaded fortress pulling guard duty in the middle of the woods. We were out in the middle of nowhere and the night was as dark as the coffee I learned to drink in the Army. There was no moon. I could barely make out the path, but it was just pure darkness in the trees.

We didn’t have night vision goggles. All I had were my ears. My responsibility was to be on the lookout for anyone coming. If I heard someone, I had to holler out: Halt, who goes there? Someone would identify himself and or themselves (there were no women). I would ask for the password. And if they didn’t know the password – the night would light up with machine gun fire.

I had no idea if anyone was trying to sneak up on us and capture our post. There were guys sleeping – relying on me. I did not want to be the guy who got his squad captured. Talk about the ultimate humiliation! You never live down being the guy who failed to protect his squad.

Paul is using this kind of language. You might find this translated – stay awake! That was the thought behind the command. That is what it meant. During the watch of the night, as boredom set in, one might tend to close his eyes… just for a moment. But don’t you do it! Stay awake! Be watchful!

app.: Paul is warning the men in the church to stay awake, be Alert, and keep a watchful eye out for the enemy is near. He prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour! He wants to destroy the church – but we must not let that happen – not on our watch! Men, this is on us!

II. Stand firm in the faith

exp.: Don’t act like you’ve not heard this before. It’s been used quite a bit over the past month. We first saw it back in 10.12 – where Paul issues the warning – Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. It is the context of chapter 15. We see it in v 1 – Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand. He employs our previous terminology, Watch Out, Stay awake in 15.34 – ³⁴ Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. And he comes back to this command to stand in 15.58: ⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

III. Act like men

exp.: one word in the Gk; Andre or Andrew. We have this word in English, but for us, it is simply a noun: man. In the Gk, though, it is a verb – the verb, man. Kind of hard to translate that word because it doesn’t exist in English. We basically verbalize our nouns. Hence, act like men; behave like men; man up! But even that doesn’t make sense, because we really don’t know anymore what a man is supposed to act like! And there are two good reasons:

1. In our lifetimes and in the generations before us, Men were poor examples or they were absent.
2. With the feminist movements (late 1800’s/1960’s), men gave up and gave over their responsibilities.

This verb appears in the NT only here. But it appears multiple times in the OT. Most famously and repeated in: Be strong and courageous (Deut/Joshua). He is telling them, “when you go into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, be strong and act like men!” i.e.: The opposite of how their Fathers and grandfathers acted the first time they came to the Holy Land.

Paul’s understanding of what it means to “be a man” comes from the O.T. – His Scriptures. He employs language and grammar he is familiar with. Paul is echoing familiar passages such as:

• 1 Samuel 4.9: ⁹ Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.”… Order: Take courage  (vb: strength) , and be men (vb: man),
• 2 Samuel 10.12: ¹² Be of good courage (vb: man), and let us be courageous (vb: strength) for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” Order is more like 1 Cor 16.13 – Be of good courage (vb: man), and let us be courageous (vb: strength) for our people.
• Psalm 31.23f in the last three commands of 16.13f. The themes of pride, shame, and love all emphasize what Paul has been teaching the Corinthians So, alluding to Psalm 31 would be an appropriate fit.

Ps 31.23f reads: Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. ²⁴ Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord,

Here we see the three commands in the LXX that we find in our text: Love, Act like men (Be strong), and Be strong (Courage of heart). With the context of 1 Corinthians dealing with pride & shame & love and relationships, Psalm 31 just might have been on his mind when he wrote this conclusion to his letter.

But what I want you to see is that translating these things is hard. Sometimes, you’re just translating an idea. Like the idea of the noun, ‘man’ turned into a verb!

I’m reminded of when David challenged his son, Solomon with the charge in 1 Kings 2.2:² “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, ³ and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn…

David dies and Solomon has to ‘man up’ – he defends his throne and brings retribution to those who stood against his father. He has to put men to death. Those are tough decisions. He gives some of those men chances, but those men don’t take advantage of those chances – and they reap the consequences – they die.

So, what does it mean to “be” a man? Well, taking it from the OT, it means “to be brave” or “be strong in the face of adversity”, to show courage. Do you remember earlier when I said there was a video of a man on YouTube who was mistreating a woman? And there were men there, but they just turned away and didn’t come to her defense or protect her? That is the opposite of what it means to be a man. Those men behaved in a way that demonstrated their confusion. Maybe they were scared, but maybe they were thinking the way they’ve been taught – women are basically men and can take care of themselves.

And what does that look like to “act like men”? In these verses, we see courage in the face of adversity, but I think there is more:

1^st, Character. Character is a trait in itself. It isn’t something you add or learn. It is revealed in those times of adversity. There is no such thing as bad character. You either have Character or you don’t. It is there or it is lacking. Some men lack character. Webster defines character as: moral excellence and integrity.

Chuck Colson, in a speech some years ago, stated: All of you know that I spent my life, the last 35 years going into prisons. I love it. I have a passion for it: to bring the Gospel to prisoners who are absolutely loved. But I discovered early on that the reason the prisons were being filled wasn’t all the sociological theories about crime that we hear generally. It was the fact studied at Harvard in 1986 by two great social scientists: the lack of moral training during the morally formative years.

It hit me that we are raising a generation that lacks male role models. The family has broken down. These kids aren’t learning character. Where does character come from? It comes from habits that you learn in the family first. That’s the first basic structure that Aristotle once said is the first school of human instruction. It comes from associations that you become part of, where you find your identity—you find role models and other people. That’s how character forms.

2^nd, acting like men means stepping up. We see that in Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel. Even after they enter the Land, we see it in David, and in his challenge to his son, Solomon. As time went by, the Israelites failed to be men when times of struggle arose. In some instances, they vacated their responsibilities. Women and children were left to play the part of men.

The Lord warned the Israelites through Isaiah, that when men fail to be men, he will bring women and children to lead them. We’ve identified women who led Israel in Scripture. That isn’t a mandate to elect women to lead you. That is an indictment against a people who have rejected God’s leadership by failing to follow him! Isaiah 3.1-12: the sin of omission has led the people of Israel to the brink of destruction. The men have given up their leadership roles. Instead, they boast about the sin of Sodom (that’s homosexuality; think LGBTQ+). With the abdication of their roles in leadership and responsibility, infants and women will now rule over them. That is their lot – a lot given to them of their own choosing.

This is happening before our very eyes! Kamala Harris this past week advocated for children to have a voice in government. What? The prophecy of Isaiah against the Israelites is becoming a reality in the United States of America!

Men, act like men! That doesn’t mean being a bruit or a tyrannical ruler in your home or office. It means putting God first. It means putting your wife first and your children next. It means standing up and leading your family with character, integrity, and moral excellence. It means being courageous in the face of adversity.

t.s.: and it means… number four

IV. Be Strong

Exp.: Young men, you don’t gain strength from Video games. It comes from mowing and raking and lifting and carrying and swinging and the list goes on. It is physical strength. It is also an emotional strength. It is keeping your head when things are in chaos. It is trusting the Lord in the midst of the storm and doing all you can do in that process. I love the old adage: work like it all depends on you, but pray like it all depends on God. This comes out so well in the final command:

V. Do all you do in Love.

Exp.: Do everything in love. Let love be your motivation. Dads, discipline in love; moms, teach in love; people, serve in love.

What should you do? Southern Seminary put out a book: A Guide to Biblical Manhood. I highly recommend it to all men. In it, they list 25 things every man should teach a boy.

Ill.: 25 things every man should teach a boy…

Conclusion: Max Sherman was an unknown energy efficiency scientist until he ran some tests on an iconic product. As a specialist in examining the effectiveness of sealants within heating and air conditioning systems, he made a startling discovery that he reported in a small circulation publication, Home Energy Magazine. His finding, however, was picked up by USA Today, then the Wall Street Journal, and then a frenzy of media outlets.

His discovery was that most duct sealants were relatively effective with one notable exception: duct tape. Sherman reported that duct tape “failed reliably and often quite catastrophically” when applied to duct systems.

He blogged about the kinds of questions he started getting regularly along with his routine answers.

1. Question number one: how did duct tape get its name? Sherman: I don’t know.
2. Question number two: what can you use it for? Sherman: anything but ducts.
3. Question number three: do you use duct tape: Sherman: all the time, just not on ducts.

What made Sherman’s story so newsworthy is the incessant joking that surrounds duct tape and how it’s thought to be the stuff that holds the whole world together. “Popular culture abounds with uses for duct tape: duct tape calendars, books like 101 Uses for Duct Tape, and more,” stated Max’s report, “but lab experiments have finally proved that duct tape, as it is generally used, should not be used to seal ducts.”

Randy Stinson and Dan Dumas wrote that story (Biblical Manhood) and then they conclude: And so we find that duct tape is good for many applications but cannot fulfill its original purpose – what it was created for and what it was named after. The irony of the naming and usage of duct tape is the same irony that is played out in men’s lives across the nation week after week. There‘s a lot men can do, but they are struggling to do what they were created for.

If ever there was a time for men to step up and be men, it is now! Not to lord their responsibility over their families, their church and their world. But, in love, to step up and be who they were created to be. Protect, Provide, Lead out! Men, will you stand? Boys, will you stand, too?

Father, I pray for our men, that they will rise up and fulfill the calling on their lives to be men. May we as men treat our women and all women with the dignity and respect they deserve. May we treat our daughters as young women, so they’ll know what a real man is (and what to look for in a mate). Father, helps us to show the way by the lives we live. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

Men, Be watchful and stay awake, Stand firm in the faith, Act like men, and Be strong. Do everything in love.

Let’s all stand for the Blessing & Benediction: ²⁰ Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, ²¹ equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Heb 13.20f

The Pastor’s Plea (Part 2)

Title: The Pastor’s Plea (Part 2):

Text: Colossians 2.16-23

CPT: Colossians, hold fast to Christ and experience true spiritual growth and maturity. Do not submit any longer to regulations and rituals which only tend to falsely and temporarily puff you up.

CPS: Hey guys, hold fast to Christ and do not hold on to legalistic teachings and rituals, which only puff you up for a little while.

Introduction:

Philosophy should result in Practice. Therefore, a Wrong Philosophy results in a wrong behavior and practice. A Correct philosophy results in correct living and practice.

Introduction: I attended a conference 10 years ago where RC Sproul was one of the guest preachers. He spoke of his educational journey where he watched liberalism infiltrate his seminary (the one he attended as a young man) and then how it impacted the local church: Col 2.6-9; Sproul said he witnessed Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis throughout the years.

• The thesis is an intellectual proposition. – The Gospel; Christ
• The antithesis is simply the negation of the thesis, a reaction to the proposition. – This is what false teachers do with empty and deceitful philosophy.
• The synthesis solves the conflict between the thesis and antithesis by reconciling their common truths, and forming a new proposition. This is Jesus plus.

The fear of syncretism arises when we see these same false teachers combining Christ with worldly philosophies;

Ill.: Tim Keller in his book, The Prodigal God, tells how weird Christianity was in the beginning. They’d meet their neighbor or some stranger and talk religion. Oh, I’m a Christian. Really? Where is your Temple? Well, we don’t have one? Then where do you offer your sacrifices? Well, we don’t really do that either. Christ was our sacrifice.

Transition: So, with spiritual practices moving inward, in a society that understood religion to be outward, there was a tendency toward syncretism or synthesis; Paul warns the Colossians not to synthesize the gospel with anything the world has to offer: not worldly philosophies nor human traditions. We want to spend a few minutes looking at Paul’s concern for the Colossians and then turn our attention to today’s similar situation;

We’re in the midst of a section I’ve entitled, The Pastor’s Plea. Beginning in 2.6,

• Paul pleads with the Colossians to continue to walk in the faith, just as they’d received that faith.  
• His plea is seeded out of his concern for those who would lead the Colossians astray
• His plea stems from power of the gospel to transform lives
• And finally, it blossoms into victorious living, because of Christ’s Victory.

Let’s pick up in 2.16 where we continue the Pastor’s Plea with three warnings; Paul’ 1^st warning:

I. Do not let anyone judge you (16f)

exp.: rd v 16; in regard to

• Food and drink (clean/unclean)
• Festivals, new moon celebrations and Sabbaths (Jewish Holidays)

exp.: it appears that false teachers have come onto the scene and are trying to incorporate a Jewish mindset into the Gospel; Jesus is good, you need Jesus, but you’re missing some things: add the Law; you must accept Christ as your Lord and savior, and oh yeah, you must observe these other things, too (circumcision; this festival, that festival; you can’t eat or drink this or that); synthesis; I love what Paul says next: rd v 17; these ‘shadows’ or practices had their purpose! They were shadows.

ill.: CS Lewis calls this world the ‘shadowlands’; you see a shadow and you know what it comes from; a tree; a car or truck; a deer; we see this theme of shadows present in the book of Hebrews; The temple, the sacrifices, the work of the priests were but shadows of the real thing, the substance;

app.: here is what I think Paul is saying: there is nothing wrong with someone who abstains from certain foods or certain drinks. And, likewise, there is nothing wrong with those who don’t abstain from certain foods or drinks; There is nothing wrong in celebrating holidays; the Passover, the feast of tabernacles; for us, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. The problem is when you insist upon these things being added to Christ in order to attain salvation; when someone says you’re not saved because you don’t do these things, too! Or maybe they understand you’re saved – you’re a Christian – you’re just not as mature as they are.

The two examples I think of are baptism and speaking in tongues. i.e., you’re not saved until you get baptized; you’re not saved until you speak in tongues; you’re not saved because you…

Now, I have some friends who believe these things. I’m sure if they happen to watch this video they’ll be offended – bothered. But we have our own problems within our denomination that is similar to these. We’ll get to those in a minute.

t.s.: he continues in v 18; rd v 18; Paul’s second warning

II. Do not let anyone disqualify you (18f)

exp.: rd v 18; disqualify; appears only here; not in LXX; καταβραβεύω; Κατα means down or against; Βραβεύω means to umpire, to rule. So you get the idea of someone who rules against you, hense disqualify;Melick writes: The word ‘disqualify’ builds on the word which means to umpire or award the prize. The NASB translates this sentence: Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind;

Note: He’s not talking about salvation here; i.e., you lose your salvation, but rather forfeiting the prizes and rewards of the Christian faith that we get each day; Who is he talking about? Specifically, he says ‘those’ who (three participles (pres. act. ptc.)

• Insisting (θέλω: will; their will for you)
  • Asceticism (fasting); ‘self-abasement’;
  • Worship (religion) of angels
    • Acts 26.5; Jas 1.26; 27
    • Religion, faith, practice
  • Going on in detail about visions (setting foot on)
    • Being Puffed up (pres pass ptc) in vain (without reason)
    • Ill.: Pastor’s Prayer group with those who speak in tongues;
  • Not Holding to Christ; they’re holding on to a shadow; rd v 19; Christ, the only one who can bring true growth to the Body;

Transition: watch out for such people; avoid them; and then he gives them this great warning; rd v 20-22;

III. Do not add anything to Christ (20-23)

exp.: Paul says: you died to the world! Why are you still holding on to some of its regulations, precepts and principles; rd v 21; and then he gives the reason in v 23; they make you appear spiritual, but you’re really not; they make you appear humble, but you’re really not; you’re actually quite proud of your humility;

ill.: it’s like the man the church honored for his humilty; they brought him forward and honored him with a pin; the next week the took it away from him because he wore it!

ill.: Dr. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY (whom Time calls the ‘reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in the US) in his sermon “How does it happen: trajectories toward an adjusted Gospel” he lists 8 identifiable trajectories. I’d like to borrow from him and list them for you so that you might be mindfully aware of what preachers are preaching and teachers are teaching. Some of these you’ll recognize:

1. The Modern Trajectory

No, modern man would believe such myths; ill.: I remember eating at a table with some liberal pastors who were speaking in favor of gay marriage and ordaining homosexual men and women to the pastorate; I asked: with all that the Bible teaches against these things, how can you possibly be in favor of them. The answer: The Hebrew people were a pre-scientific people. Modern people have medicine, science and technology. Rudolf Bultmann said: No man who uses an electric razor believes that Jesus actually walked on water!

2. The Post-Modern Trajectory

The idea of Pluralism: what’s ok for you is ok for you. Truth is relative; ‘that’s your language’; we’re now supposed to tolerate all other forms of religion;

3. The Moral Trajectory – these folks struggle with the morality of the bible or as they would call it “the immorality of the Bible”; Specifically: Hell, divine atonement; human depravity; Wrath of God; penal substitution; sacrifice; and a God who acts in History through Judgment; Washington Gladden (Social Gospel) to teach such a doctrine as this (hell and divine justice) about God is to inflict upon religion a terrible injury and to subvert the very foundations of morality. Thus, we are morally superior to the stories in the Bible; today, a movement throughout the evangelical movement is to question God’s morality in crucifying His own son; people call this divine child abuse; a father would inflict pain upon his own child to forgive sins; ‘a divine monster’; self-aggrandizing in seeking his own glory; Mohler says in his sermon that so much of this movement has injected what he calls the ‘fairness doctrine’ – God has to be fair; Mohler points out that God is perfect and perfect is better than fair;
4. The Aesthetic Trajectory – God is beautiful; this is a beautiful story; the good, the beautiful, the true; thus, man being made in the beautiful image of God (imago deo) we’re aesthetic people; we can see these beautiful things for ourselves; These folks avoid Gen 3; clean up the story; the blood of Jesus; that’s gross;
5. The Therapeutic Trajectory – everyone has a therapist; some opt for those on TV, Oprah, Dr. Phil; Dr. Mohler refers to an article about “Therapy Envy” where there are those who are signing up for therapy in areas in which they don’t suffer; the idea here is that we are sick and in need of therapy instead of dealing with sin;

Ill.: A big movement today is the condemning and outlawing “Conversion Therapy”; In Britain this last month, Boris Johnson has tried to appease the Evangelical Community by saying that Conversion Therapy will be outlawed, but that there will be exceptions for Parents, Preaching and Prayer. But, the LGBTQ+ community is outraged. They want to take away the parents’ rights, the preaching of sin and even pernicious prayer.

6. The Pragmatic Trajectory – we have a problem, so let’s solve it; we organize, we mobilize, we scrutinize the problems and create programs and ideas to move us forward (where the Gospel fails, we jump in and help); Truth and Doctrine have their place, but in order to get results we implement a program! The pragmatic trajectory says we must be practical about ministry, evangelism and church growth; Key: Rd v 19 – grows with a growth that is from God.
7. The Emotional Trajectory – we are emotional beings; Jesus wept; emotion and feeling are at the heart of who we are; pastors have been moving toward not preaching the Gospel (Thesis), but rather what they feel or what they feel their people are feeling (antithesis); we call this preaching to felt needs; the danger is when pastor allows his feelings to dictate what he preaches; Mohler asks: How do you feel about original sin? What is your emotional response to hell? Point: it doesn’t matter how I ‘feel’ about the doctrines of the Bible. The preacher’s responsibility is to preach God’s Truth – not what he feels.
8. The Materialistic Trajectory – we live in a material world; we see the synthesis of the Gospel and the material trajectory with the health and wealth gospel; the prosperity gospel;

Transition: It amazes me that we keep adding to Christ. The Colossians were struggling with this; we know through church history that it continues for them for years, decades and centuries; And it amazes me that after all this time, we’re still trying to add to what Christ has done!

Conclusion and Application: Let me review for you what I’ve done so far this morning:

1. I told you about RC Sproul’s experience over the past 70 years Thesis/Antithesis/Synthesis
2. I told you about Christianity’s misunderstood beginnings (no temple, no sacrifice, no festivals)
3. We went through the Scripture and showed you how Paul had warned the Colossians of this very thing – don’t let anyone try to make you think you need – a temple, a sacrifice, a festival, etc.  
4. Then, I listed for you 8 trajectories that we need to be concerned about in our time where the world is trying to get us to add to the Gospel.

So, what are our take-a-ways?

1. Theology Matters. As a Christian, you should be concerned with Theology. The movement to liberalism is a slow moving metric. The trajectory is there, but it usually isn’t recognizable until changes have been made. I liken it to the ‘frog in the kettle’ analogy.
2. Warning: Listen for anything that might sound like Christ plus. You know the Gospel. Recognize anything that adds to it – or takes away from it.
3. Enjoy the celebrations God has set forth, but don’t require them as a standard of salvation or even a level of righteousness or maturity.
   1. God has blessed us with festive times. We should not mourn during those times. But, they are not required for salvation. And they don’t detract from them either.  
4. Your salvation is complete in Christ. God has blessed us with so many wonderful things in this life, but none of them: not the people, not the party, and definitely not the particulars are ever needed to be added to Christ to complete our salvation.

Conclusion: Christ is all you need. Do not add anything to Christ! We are Justified by Christ alone, through faith alone. He stands alone! His sacrifice is sufficient, paying the penalty for every sin you’ve ever committed or will ever commit; He himself said, “It is finished!”

1 Timothy: An Introduction

Title: 1 Timothy: An Introduction

Text: 1 Timothy 1.1-3

Introduction: Erin Brockovich is now famous for her legal work against a giant company. She herself was not a lawyer, but rather a legal clerk who worked for a small law firm. Her story inspires most because she represents many of us – at least that is the way we see it.

She didn’t look the part. She wasn’t educated. She had made many mistakes when she was young. She was judged on her appearance and not on her work. The snobs with the money judged her incompetent because she didn’t dress like they did. She didn’t have the law degree they had. It was a modern-day David and Goliath story. Pacific Gas and Electric Company had been poisoning the land around Hinkley, California. Their reckless behavior made the people of Hinkley and the surrounding area sick – many even died.

Her story inspires because she stood up to the mammoth of a company that had money and lawyers to fight. But she never backed down. She spent countless hours learning the ins and outs of that company. She met and got to know the people of Hinkley. She knew the sick by name. She knew their spouses and what their spouse did for a living; she knew who their kids were and what grades they were in. She knew where they lived. She knew where they shopped; who their doctors were; the most intimate details about their lives. She knew the company was dumping hexavalent chromium and contaminating the water sources the people of Hinkley were drinking.

Her story inspires because she spoke out and defended the ones who could not stand up for themselves and won.

For me, the Pastoral Epistles inspire like that. Paul writes to these young men who are serving as pastors in their local churches and encourages them to speak out against those who are killing the people around them. He writes to Titus in Crete and to Timothy in Ephesus. Our focus this morning is on the church at Ephesus and this letter to Timothy. The Letter is entitled 1 Timothy. If you’re using a pew Bible, you’ll find the letter on page ???

Paul states his purpose quite clearly in 3.14-15; rd 3.14f; you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. What we’ll find as we work our way through this letter is that Sound Doctrine is vital to a church’s existence. Unhealthy doctrine destroys a church. Sound Doctrine teaches a church 1) how to behave, 2) it represents God, and 3) is a pillar and buttress of the Truth!

Over the next 4 months, our church will be looking at 1^st Timothy. Our basic goal this morning is to look at the introduction of this letter. We find the introduction in 1 Timothy 1.1-3 or on page ??? if you’re using a pew Bible.

Basic Outline: First, we will look at the writer (who the letter is from), then the recipient (who the letter is to), and his purpose, which he alludes to in v 3;

• From: Paul
• To: Timothy (and the church at Ephesus)
• Purpose: you may charge…

Transition: that outline looks short, but the truth is, there is so much here, so let’s get to it.

From: Paul

exp.: rd v 1; Paul wrote this letter somewhere around the years 62-66 AD. Consider the following

• Paul was martyred by Nero in Rome. That is the historical tradition and has strong backing.
• Nero died in 68 AD, so, we’ll start with that date.
• Paul was near his death when he wrote 2 Timothy, his last book or letter that we have. If Nero put Paul to death, then Paul died before Nero. Make sense?
• So, let’s put Paul’s death around 67 AD – that means 2 Timothy was written near that time.
• There are at least two winters recorded in the Pastoral Epistles (Titus 3.12 and 2 Timothy 4.21).

Titus 3.12: When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.

2 Tim 4.21: ²¹ Do your best to come before winter. Another winter is fast approaching. Each reference is a different context. So: at least two different winters. They could be one year apart or more; winter of ’67; the winter of ‘65. So, that would put 1 Timothy somewhere around 62-64 AD. These are rough guesses, of course – give or take a few years on each side the largest span would be 62-66. You probably have a good guess at the introduction in your Study Bible at 1 Timothy.

Next, Paul is imprisoned in 2 Timothy, but in 1 Timothy, he appears to be writing after his imprisonment as mentioned in Acts 28. I tried to locate times and places mentioned in 1 Timothy with Acts and I can’t reconcile them. Allow me to show you what I mean:

1 & 2 Timothy place Timothy in Ephesus. I jokingly say that he is the pastor of the 1^st Baptist Church in Ephesus. 1 Timothy has Paul going to Macedonia (1.3). In the book of Acts, Paul does travel to Macedonia from Ephesus (Acts 20.1), but Timothy has not been left behind in Ephesus. Instead, he is sent ahead to Macedonia (Acts 19.22). Added to this, Timothy accompanies Paul on his journey to Jerusalem (Acts 20.4). It is possible that Paul left Timothy in Miletus when he was meeting with the Ephesian elders; however, Paul’s journey was toward Jerusalem the opposite direction of Macedonia.

So, I can only conclude that Paul was released from prison after Acts 28. He ministered and wrote his letters (1 Timothy and Titus) between the dates of 62-66 AD. Then, at some point after those letters, he is thrown into prison again. According to 2 Timothy, he must have gone eastward after his Roman Imprisonment and not on to Spain, because he left his cloak and books at Troas. From his prison cell, during this 2^nd Roman Imprisonment, he wrote his last letter, 2 Timothy. Paul has a sense (concerning himself) that the end is near there in 2 Timothy.

app.: He must be feeling that a bit as he writes his 1^st letter to Timothy. Verse 1 tells us about his calling: apostle. That means he is a missionary, a church planter. His authority is from God, who has called him and commissioned him. But, as the years have gone by, he finds himself unable to keep up with his previous pace of planting churches and discipling new believers. Jail time has put a toll on his body. Long hours, long travel, persecution, stress, these all have aged him.

So, he has strategically placed younger men in places of service. 1.3: Timothy at Ephesus; Titus at Crete (1.5); He sends their replacements. 2 Tim 4.12: Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. Before that, in Titus, Paul sent Tychicus to Crete – evidently to carry that particular letter. Paul mentions that Zenas, the Lawyer, and Apollos have been there with Titus and that Titus should send them on their way to Paul. Crescens is in Galatia; Titus served in Dalmatia, as well as in Crete. Mark is serving somewhere along the way between Ephesus and Rome. It would be a hard, but fun study to locate all of the names of these young men and see where Paul had located them for service – with both locations and dates.

Now, added to their placement as overseers in their respective churches, Paul has given them instructions about how a church should look and act. Now, this is so important! Don’t miss that! That is what these letters, 1 Timothy and Titus, are all about; more on that in a moment.

t.s.: For now, let’s turn our attention to Timothy

To: Timothy

exp.: rd v 2; he uses the same language with Titus; my true child in the faith. The Gk word here means legitimate. I think this conveys the idea that Paul had a hand in their conversion to Christ and their foundation in discipleship. My guess is that Timothy was converted to Christ on Paul’s 1^st MJ. We first meet Timothy in the book of Acts (16.1). Paul and Barnabas had finished their 1^st MJ and had returned to Antioch to report their mission work. After some days and some disagreement about how they should handle things, Paul and Silas take off on Paul’s 2^nd MJ. Their first stop is in Galatia, at Derbe and on to a small town called Lystra. This is where they meet a young Timothy, who has impressed the people of Lystra and Iconium – and Paul, too. Paul immediately recognizes his potential and wants Timothy to accompany them on their journey. And so begins a mentoring relationship between the two men that will last for the next 15 years or more. So great is this relationship, greater even than any other relationship Paul will have with many men, that Timothy appears in all but three of Paul’s letters. Galatians, Ephesians, and Titus. An interesting side note about that: Timothy was from Galatia and he was the pastor at Ephesus.

The rest of v 2 is a typical salutation – if there is such a thing. Paul has worked at refining his introduction through the years to reflect a high Christology. And, built upon that Christology is the authority given to Paul. It is typical in nature to other letters, but of course, reflects the change and growth in his faith. Listen to Gordon Knight:

This form of salutation reflects three factors: first, the teachings of the Christian faith have molded Paul’s adaptation of the standard form. Second, there is a great uniformity in this molding, especially in the grading section, which reflects a certain crystallization of his manner of expression of the essential Christian truths in these salutations. Third, there are certain variations that either reflect the recipients’ situation and need or anticipate and emphasize that which will be presented in the letter proper.

In all of his letters except the letter to the churches in Galatia, Paul refers to the recipients’ relationship to Christ (i.e.: to all the saints in Christ Jesus, as here – my true child in the faith, etc).

ill.: but here is where we can’t see the bond and what has forged it. As you read through acts you see Timothy right there with Silas and others, learning how to stand for Christ, learning that persecution will come. He is watching Paul as he suffers: in Philippi, in Thessalonica, in Berea as he watched Paul sail away alone – alone for his own safety; he is there in Corinth when the city erupted and wanted Paul’s head. Timothy was at Ephesus the first time Paul spoke there. He probably heard Paul’s promise to return if the Lord willed it. And the Lord did and Paul returned and stayed for two years. He watched as the people jumped up and down, screaming and yelling at the top of their lungs, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” He watched as Paul begged to address the thousands of people who wanted him dead. Paul saw a crowd where he could preach Christ. I’m sure Timothy was one of the men who begged him not to do that. The crowd yelled for two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

We have a bunch of material from Acts where Timothy watched and learned from Paul. But what about the “so much more” that we don’t have. What was it like in those prison cells as they had time for some one-on-one discipleship? What was it like for Timothy to listen to this brilliant man who knew the Scriptures and how to apply them? What was it like to watch as the man went from reading the Scriptures to quoting them because his eyes were failing him? What was it like to hear the story of Paul’s conversion and calling – to hear him tell it – the story we read about in Acts Chapter 9 without the inflection, without the emotion of Paul’s voice?

app.: As a pastor, I’m in awe of this relationship. Paul loves the people of Ephesus. He detests false teachers coming and leading people astray. He trusts Timothy to serve those folks – to teach sound doctrine and protect them from the foolishness that others try to bring into a church.

t.s.: which brings us to this last section… it deals with what I touched on at the end of the 1^st section… the purpose of these letters.

Part II:

Introduction: Love Does, Bob Goff; rd pg 94-95; eating Lard instead of Philadelphia Cream Cheese.

That’s the problem with religion: people package it in attractive ways, but always leave a person wanting. The problem with it all is that what most people are selling isn’t what Christ is offering.

Review of Part 1: From; To; Dates;

Purpose: charge certain men not to teach a different doctrine

exp.: rd v 3; Paul gets straight to the point. This is why I left you there in Ephesus. This is why I’m writing to you! Paul deals with false teaching repeated through his ministry. We see it in just about every letter of Paul’s.

1. We see it in Acts 20, as Paul says goodbye to the Ephesian Elders at Miletus. Rd Acts 20.17; 25-32;
2. We’ll see it in this letter, so you’re going to see it again and again (1.3-11; 13-20; 4.1-7; 6.3-10; 20-21).

• Myths (1.4; 4.7)
• Genealogies (1.4)
• Concern with the Jewish Law and its application (1.7)
• Empty sounds and contradictions referred to as ‘knowledge’ (6.20)
• Deception (4.1-3)
• Immorality (1.19-20)
• Financial Gain (6.5)
• Harsh Asceticism (4.1-5) through denying the self what God has blessed us with; rd; 4.1-5

ill.: false teaching is alive and well in the church today. Consider the following for us:

• For the first 1500 years of the Church’s existence – teaching came only through hearing the Word. Very few people could read it and very few people had access to it. Consider it was in Latin! The Word of God was spread only through copies and oftentimes, those copies were chained to the altar at the church. Regular people did not have their own copies. The only time they got God’s Word was through the preaching.
• Along comes Johannes Guttenberg and his printing press in 1450, making it possible to have a copy of God’s Word. And that is what he wanted. “It is a press, certainly, but a press from which shall flow in inexhaustible streams… Through it, God will spread His Word. A spring of truth shall flow from it: like a new star it shall scatter the darkness of ignorance, and cause a light heretofore unknown to shine amongst men”
• Here is the irony in it all. Even after the Printing Press comes along, the church doesn’t want common people to have the Word of God in common hands. They saw that as a danger. They outlawed Scripture that was translated into common languages. Latin was the ‘Authorized’ version for those folks. I think of the modern-day movement of KJV Only folks.
• So, for the next few hundred years, the word of God could then be spread by reading it and the public preaching and teaching of it. As the Word of God became more and more prevalent, it was outlawed in certain countries. The Church didn’t want it in the hands of normal people because they might teach falsely. I think it was more about control.
• The Advent of Radio and Recording makes it much easier to access the preaching part. But today, with the internet and TV, with its 557 channels and nothing on, you can hear multiple preachers in any given hour. You can stream your favorite preacher or teacher into your home any hour of any day. False teaching can be pumped into your homes and into your head anytime you want to listen to anyone who tickles your ears.

app.: For me, it is a scary time.

• Consider Mayor Pete Buttigieg: the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, IN. He’s the next big thing for liberals because he is gay and he is married to a man. And, he is a very nice young man. He’s intelligent and articulate. He went to Notre Dame, Harvard and Oxford. Ok, so far not too very different from most liberals. But, here’s the thing: he spouts his faith and declares his Christianity unashamedly. And this is where I think Sound Doctrine is of great importance to us. Just look at our text, down in v 8-11. Now, there are some, probably more on the internet than here in this room, who would say it is wrong from me to ‘judge’ him and his faith. I think to some degree that would be true. But this is where we need to be very careful. Scripture is clear on this issue. He may be sincere, but he is sincerely wrong according to Scripture. What is scary for me is that there is a group of young, progressive Christians who are pushing and supporting his rise through the Democratic party.
• This past year, an article came out in the New York Times questioning the foundational doctrines of our faith (I read about it in Dr. Albert Mohler’s daily briefings): the Trinity, The Virgin birth, The Resurrection of Christ. I’m guessing it was Easter and all – and that’s the perfect time to attack Christians. Nicholas Kristoph interviewed a Seminary president: Dr. Serene Jones. She is the president of Union Theological Seminary. And the article basically boils down to throwing out the main tenets of our faith. Serene Jones doesn’t believe in a resurrection. She says the empty tomb illustrates that “the ultimate love in our lives cannot be crucified and killed.” She says there isn’t a resurrection in Mark – only an empty tomb. Kristoph challenges her, not really, but just so she can expand on her thoughts: But without a resurrection, aren’t we left with just the crucifixion? She answers: “Crucifixion is not something that God is orchestrating from upstairs. The pervasive idea of an abusive God-father who sends his own kid to the cross so God could forgive people is nuts. For me,” she said, “the cross is an enactment of our human hatred. But what happens on Easter is the triumph of love in the midst of suffering. Isn’t that reason for hope? Well, according to Paul – No! If all we have is the crucifixion, if Christ is not raised, then we are to be pitied above all men. If Christ is not raised, then we are hopeless and our faith is futile.
• Joel Osteen is a motivational speaker who masquerades around as a preacher. I’ve chosen not to slam other preachers, but I don’t think Osteen lands in this category: a preacher. Joel Osteen’s teaching revolves around the self. There is no guilt and shame – those things don’t belong at his church. He will not talk about sin – that is so degrading. What he focuses on is making you feel better about yourself when you walk out those doors.
• The following is from CBSNews.com this past Spring:

Rachel Held Evans, a popular, progressive Christian writer who challenged the traditional evangelical views, died Saturday, her husband confirmed in a blog post. She was 37.

Evans was hospitalized in April for what she described in a tweet as a “a flu + UTI combo and a severe allergic reaction to the antibiotics they gave me.” Her husband, Daniel Evans, had been updating on her blog about her health, writing that she had been placed in a medically-induced coma.

On Saturday, he wrote that she had been weaned from coma medication, but seizures had continued and severe swelling of her brain had been found, which he wrote caused severe damage that “ultimately was not survivable.”

“This entire experience is surreal,” Daniel Evans wrote. “I keep hoping it’s a nightmare from which I’ll awake. I feel like I’m telling someone else’s story.”

Evans was the author of several books, including “Faith Unraveled,” “The Year of Biblical Womanhood,” “Searching for Sunday” and “Inspired.” She spent more than a decade writing about what she described as “faith, doubt, and life in the Bible Belt” on her blog. 

Her popular writing and views on Christianity often enraged traditional evangelicals. In 2015, The Washington Post called her the “most polarizing woman in evangelicalism.” She was an advocate for LGBT membership in the church, urged fellow pro-life Christians to vote for Hillary Clinton and wrestled with the role of the patriarchy in the church. She served on former President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. 

She eventually left the evangelical church, writing in 2016 that “church universal is so much bigger than white American evangelicalism, and that’s going to become ever more apparent in the months and years to come.” 

I’m sad that this young woman died.

But the saddest part of her story is that so much of her ‘ministry’ was much like Hymenaeus and Philetus. She rejected the hard parts of the Bible and followed how she felt. Many have been led astray. She had a great point. I too have been sickened at the organized church; the power plays of individuals; the segregation that is most evident on Sunday mornings.

t.s.: So, how do we handle this? Well, a guilty man should feel guilty. Sin is what separates us from a holy God and we have to deal with our sin. Most people just don’t want to change. But God loves us too much to leave us the way we are. Most people want to hold on to their sin and to religion. But what they end up selling you is much like a tub of lard wrapped in a Cream Cheese package.

Conclusion: We must act and respond like Paul, who is being very clear that Sound, Healthy Doctrine is vital. It is what should guide the church. It isn’t enough to just to babble on and place your focus on things outside of Scripture, like how you feel. We must be clear about what is in Scripture. And that is the whole purpose behind 1 Timothy.

Application:

1. The Charge: someone has to confront those who are teaching something other than sound doctrine. Someone has to cry out that the water has been poisoned. Don’t drink that water, but rather, come to the life-giving water.
2. The Word of God is our Standard: It has to be the standard. Culture changes; laws change; emotions change; The Word of God is unchanging! For Timothy, he had the letter to the Ephesians, and he had this letter. This letter closes with a plural “you” – that is ‘the church’, so it appears that Paul had the intention for this letter to go to the church, too.
3. The goal of this charge is love… v. 5; it isn’t to win arguments, but people. I’ll expound on this next week, but how can we say we love someone, but don’t love them enough to tell them the Truth.

As I think about Ms. Rachel Evans, I’m reminded that her passion was for those who were being rejected by the church. Something has got to change! But what must not change, is the Word of God on which we stand. What must change – is us. Love must drive us to understand God’s Word and use it as the standard for our faith.

 

1 Timothy 1.8-11

Title: What do we know about the Law?

Text: 1 Timothy 1.8-11

What do we know about the Law?

The answer is honestly…very little. And, what we do know about the law we often times don’t really understand. Or, we misuse it.

When one thinks about the law, that person usually thinks of it in negative terms. But the Bible doesn’t refer to the law in negative terms. Not really… consider:

Does this sound familiar:

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; ² but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. ³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Or this one:

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; ⁸ the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; ⁹ the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. ¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. ¹¹ Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

If you read Psalm 119 regularly, you might be familiar with this one: ⁹⁷ Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.

Do we just throw out the Law as Christians? I mean, it is the Old Testament, right?

No! Because, the law does some truly wonderful work for us. Listen to what Paul writes in Galatians.

¹⁹ For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

So, we can’t gain righteousness through the Law, but it still serves a purpose. We recently made our way through Romans 8. And the theme there was that we weren’t to live by the law anymore, but rather by the Spirit, whom God has given us when we become Christians.

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.

And just how did he do that? We continue in Romans 8: By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

We’re in 1 Tim 1. We’ve only just begun our study in 1^st Timothy. Paul writes this letter for Timothy to encourage him to take a strong stand against false teachers. That is clear in v3-4; In v5-7 we are reminded, as we consider the law, of what the goal is supposed to be. Rd v 5; Love! Love.

Don’t forget that. It is so easy to do! Maybe people start off with love in mind, but it quickly disintegrates into anger and bitterness and defensiveness. It becomes a goal of winning an argument and being right.

Ill.: I remember after seminary learning about the Catholic Church and finding some truly wonderful practices about the Catholic Church. I met Father Dan Crawford, an Episcopalian Priest, who mentored me. It seemed to me that seminary training for me was more about what they did wrong and why the Reformation was launched. I knew about our differences, but not anything about what we hold in common. For me, it felt so much about being able to defend our differences and to win an argument if I debated someone who is Catholic or Episcopalian or Pentecostal. Maybe we need to stop being so argumentative and we need to start listening more.

Here’s where I’m going with this:

• There are some people we feel comfortable worshiping with because they are just like us.
• There are some people we wouldn’t feel comfortable worshiping with because they’re different.
• But there are some people who are so different, that we would say, “That isn’t even Christian.”

But, in every instance, this isn’t about winning arguments. It isn’t about debates. Paul reminds us here: it is all about love.

Certain men, teachers of the law, did not have love as their motive. 1 Timothy 6.3-10 tells us their goal was to get rich. They taught certain aspects of the law from Speculation and not true knowledge and experience. And so we pick up in v8 of 1^st Timothy 1. It is like Paul is saying: it isn’t that the law is bad… Really? So, what do we know about the Law? Well, Paul presents three facts about the law that I would like to spend the rest of the morning inspecting. First, we know that

I.     The Law is Good (8)

exp.: and we see that clearly communicated in v 8; rd v 8; how is it that? We see what looks to be a conditional clause: it is good if one uses it lawfully. So, you can use the law in an unlawful way. And I think that is what v6-7 is all about: ⁶ Certain persons, by swerving from these (i.e., a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith), have wandered away into vain discussion, ⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

Using the law in an unlawful manner means to make confident assertions about the law that are false. It means using the law for ill-gotten gain. Using the law in an unlawful manner means leaving love out of the equation. It means being ‘right’ in a debate. It means using others to get what you want.

Ill.: There are different types of arguments and I’m not sure any of them are good to engage in. We have speech and debate; I’m not talking about those types of things. I’m talking about the casual conversations you have with your workers, friends, and acquaintances. If you argue and push until you win – you might lose the battle of trying to win them to Christ. If something is heretical, yes, you should shed light on that. But again, what is your goal – to show how stupid they are? Or, is your goal love and you want to help that person. Those are two very different things.

app.: I shudder to think of my behavior in the past when I was quick to defend a belief or something I disagreed with. Paul establishes for us that he’s not bothered about the Law being taught because the Law is good. So, don’t be afraid of it. Instead – look for Christ in it.

t.s.: Which brings us to Paul’s next fact… The law also has purpose.

II.    The Law has Purpose (9-10)

exp.: rd v 9a: ⁹ understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just (or righteous), but for the unjust or the unrighteous; and he outlines them; read them; rd v9-10;

I want you to note that these echo or parallel the 10 commandments; you might consider these a commentary by Paul on the 10 Commandments; (the first three pair follow the 1^st part of the Decalogue) lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane,; (the rest of the list, the 2^nd part of the Decalogue) for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine;

thou shall honor your father & mother; thou shall not murder; thou shalt not commit adultery, enslavers is lit.: ‘manstealer’ it is used to describe someone who steals people and sells them; liars – bearing false witness;

Transition: Paul moves through the purpose and goodness of the Law and shares with Timothy that their newfound Faith in Christ doesn’t go against the Law;

The law has purpose – it shows us what a life in Christ is like.

Ill.: Listen to John Piper as he uses Galatians 3.19-25 to explain this text: So the law, Paul says, is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and rebellious. This sounds very much like Galatians 3:19. Paul asks, “Why the Law then?” Why was it added 430 years after Abraham was justified by faith? He answers, “It was added because of transgressions.” He does not say that it was added because of righteousness. It was added because of these kinds of things we read in this list in 1 Timothy 1:9-10. The law had a special role to play in setting a rigorous, detailed standard of behavior which functioned, Paul said, to hold people imprisoned (Galatians 3:22) or under a guardian or tutor (Galatians 3:24) until Christ came and justification by faith could be focused on him. The law commanded and condemned, and pointed to a Redeemer who was to come. Then Paul says, in Galatians 3:25, “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”

app.: So, it parallels the 10 Commandments and 2^nd, it points us to Christ. Paul wants to establish that he’s not bothered about the Law being taught because the Law is good. Its purpose is to demonstrate life and to point to the one who was to come. It shows us our need for Christ; It shows us our sinfulness and our sin; it shows us our need for forgiveness;

t.s.: which brings us to this 3^rd fact of Paul’s in what do we know about the Law? We know that (1) the law is good and we know that (2) the law has purpose. And, (3) we know that…

III.    The Law & the Gospel are in One Accord (11)

exp.: v 11; in accordance with the Gospel; that’s pretty clear; I think the converse would be true then: if you find something in the law and it doesn’t line up with the Gospel, then there is something wrong with the Gospel you’re teaching. That’s a bold statement. Am I off here? Think about this for a moment – let that sink in: if you’re teaching something from the law and it doesn’t line up with the Gospel – then there something wrong with the Gospel you’re teaching. You’re not teaching Paul’s Gospel. You’re teaching a false Gospel. The whole phrase, the Gospel of the glory is used only one other place in Scripture: 2 Cor 4.4 – ⁴ In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

ill.: If you come across a teaching that declares you can be unfaithful to your wife. That is a false gospel. If you come across a teaching that insists you can steal something because you’re entitled to it. That’s a false gospel. If you hear a teacher proclaim that God wants to give you the abundance of riches and he or she declares that to be financial riches – that’s a false gospel.

app.: The Gospel is quite clear – and the law is in accordance with it. That is just one of the facts we know about the Law: 1. It is good; 2. It has purpose and 3. It is in accordance with the Gospel.

Conclusion: In 1945 the USS Indianapolis what’s sailing in the Pacific. On one particular run, the Indianapolis sustained significant damage from a Japanese Kamikaze – a plane that uses itself as a bomb. The ship limped into an island and made what repairs she could. But, the damage was significant enough that the Indianapolis was then forced to return to San Francisco for major repairs.

In 1945, many Americans believed the War was coming to an end. All indications were that was the case. Because of this, Lt. Commander John Emery used his position to pull some strings and get his son, William Friend Henry stationed to the USS Indianapolis at San Francisco. The Lt. Commander thought his son would be safe there. He thought his son would stay there in dry dock while repairs were being made. And, then, she would probably never head back out to war – the war would be over and his son would be alive. So, using his rank and his relationships with his powerful friends, he got his son transferred to Indy.

But a need arose. The powers that be needed a ship to transfer the atomic bomb to Guam. The USS Indianapolis was in a perfect place to become the ship that would transfer ‘the bomb’ – The atomic bomb that would be loaded onto the Enola Gay and then flown to Japan, where it was dropped on Hiroshima.

It was after this transfer at Guam that the Indianapolis was sent to the Philippines for some training exercises. The crew thought they were safe. Laziness and inaction by others gave the Captain of the Indianapolis a sense that they were safe. Lt. Commander John Emery thought they were safe – he thought his son was safe, but as you know – if you’ve ever seen the movie Jaws – you know it was torpedoed and sank. You know that most of the men on board that ship were killed. In an effort to save his son, the actions Lt. Commander Emery took actually brought about the death of his son.

There is another story about a Father whose actions brought about the death of his son. But this father wasn’t acting to save his son. The actions he took were intentional. He was acting to save you and me. God sent his Son, Jesus to die on the Cross of Calvary and to pay the penalty of sins for you and for me. You see, that’s the Gospel. Talk about love as the goal: that’s the Gospel.

Paul wants to establish that he’s not bothered about the Law being taught, because:

1. The Law is good.
2. It shows us our need for Christ.
3. It is consistent with the Gospel.

Take-a-ways:

1. Read the Law – it is good for you. It is a major part of your sanctification. Read a little. Meditate on one verse. Read one chapter a day. Read 5 chapters a day.
2. Learn the Law, so that you might learn of Christ’s Character. Remember he said that he didn’t come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. He fulfilled it. Perfectly.
3. Live the Law – to do so would be to be like Christ. Sure, there are some hard things about the Law, but in reading them, learning them and living them out, there is great reward. Do this, because the Law is good, it has purpose and it is in accordance with the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God.

1 Timothy 1.1-3

*Note: the audio begins late… for the full audio version, you can visit our church’s Facebook page and view the service.

Title: 1 Timothy: An Introduction

Text: 1 Timothy 1.1-3

Introduction: Erin Brockovich is now famous for her legal work against a giant company. She herself was not a lawyer, but rather a legal clerk who worked for a small law firm. Her story inspires most because she represents many of us – at least that is the way we see it.

She didn’t look the part. She wasn’t educated. She had made many mistakes when she was young. She was judged on her appearance and not on her work. The snobs with the money judged her incompetent because she didn’t dress like they did. She didn’t have the law degree they had. It was a modern day David and Goliath story. Pacific Gas and Electric Company had been poisoning the land around Hinkley, California. Their reckless behavior made the people the people of Hinkley and the surrounding area sick – many even died.

Her story inspires because she stood up to the mammoth of a company that had money and lawyers to fight. But she never backed down. She spent countless hours learning the ins and outs of that company. She met and got to know the people of Hinkley. She knew the sick by name. She knew their spouses and what their spouse did for a living; she knew who their kids were and what grades they were in. She knew where they lived. She knew where they shopped; who their doctors were; the most intimate details about their lives. She knew the company was dumping hexavalent chromium and contaminating the water sources the people of Hinkley were drinking.

Her story inspires because she spoke out and defended the ones who could not stand up for themselves and won.

For me, the Pastoral Epistles inspire like that. Paul writes to these young men who are serving as pastors in their local churches and encourages them to speak out against those who are killing the people around them. He writes to Titus in Crete and to Timothy in Ephesus. Our focus this morning is on Ephesus and this letter to Timothy. The Letter is entitled 1 Timothy. If you’re using a pew Bible, you’ll find the letter on page ???

Paul states his purpose quite clearly in 3.14-15; rd 3.14f; you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Sound Doctrine is vital to a church’s existence. Unhealthy doctrine destroys a church. Sound Doctrine teaches a church 1) how to behave, 2) it represents God, and 3) is a pillar and buttress of the Truth!

Over the next 4 months, our church will be looking at 1^st Timothy. I have invited 8 men to walk this journey with me, 6 of whom will preach to you at one time or another. I did not choose the sermons for the guys, nor their texts. It was all very random. The only part to this that I did know were the dates that needed to be filed. In some ways, I feel like Paul – and these men are like Titus, Timothy, Tychicus, Apollos, Zenas, etc.

Our basic goal this morning is to look at the introduction. We find the introduction in 1 Timothy 1.1-3 or on page ??? if you’re using a pew Bible.

Basic Outline: First, we will look at the writer (who the letter is from), then the recipient (who the letter is to), and his purpose, which he alludes to in v 3;

• From: Paul
• To: Timothy (and the church at Ephesus)
• Purpose: you may charge…

Transition: that outline looks short, but the truth is, there is so much here, so let’s get to it.

1. From: Paul

exp.: Paul wrote this letter somewhere around the years 62-66 AD. Consider the following

• Paul was martyred by Nero in Rome. That is the historical tradition and has strong backing.
• Nero died in 68 AD, so, we’ll start with that date.
• Paul was near his death when he wrote 2 Timothy, his last book or letter that we have. If Nero put Paul to death, then Paul died before Nero. Make sense?
• So, let’s put Paul’s death around 67 AD – that means 2 Timothy was written near that time.
• There are at least two winters recorded in the Pastoral Epistles (Titus 3.12 and 2 Timothy 4.21).

Titus 3.12: When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.

2 Tim 4.21: ²¹ Do your best to come before winter. Another winter is fast approaching. Each reference is a different context. So: at least two different winters. They could be one year apart or more; winter of ’67; the winter of ‘65. So, that would put 1 Timothy somewhere around 62-64 AD. These are rough guesses, of course – give or take a few years on each side the largest span would be 62-66. You probably have a good guess at the introduction in your Study Bible at 1 Timothy.

Next, Paul is imprisoned in 2 Timothy, but in 1 Timothy, he appears to be writing after his imprisonment as mentioned in Acts 28. I tried to locate times and places mentioned in 1 Timothy with Acts and I can’t reconcile them. Allow me to show you what I mean:

1 & 2 Timothy place Timothy in Ephesus. I jokingly say that he is the pastor of the 1^st Baptist Church in Ephesus. 1 Timothy has Paul going to Macedonia (1.3). In the book of Acts, Paul does travel to Macedonia from Ephesus (Acts 20.1), but Timothy has not been left behind in Ephesus. Instead, he is sent ahead to Macedonia (Acts 19.22). Added to this, Timothy accompanies Paul on his journey to Jerusalem (Acts 20.4). It is possible that Paul left at Timothy in Miletus when he was meeting with the Ephesian elders; however, Paul’s journey was toward Jerusalem in the opposite direction of Macedonia.

So, I can only conclude that Paul was released from prison after Acts 28. He ministered and wrote his letters (1 Timothy and Titus) between the dates of 62-66 AD. Then, at some point after those letters, he is thrown into prison again. According to 2 Timothy, he must have gone eastward after his Roman Imprisonment and not on to Spain, because he left his cloak and books at Troas. From his prison cell, during this 2^nd Roman Imprisonment, he wrote his last letter, 2 Timothy.

app.: Paul has a sense about him that the end is near. Verse 1 tells us about his calling: apostle. That means he is a missionary, a church planter. His authority is from God, who has called him and commissioned him. But, as the years have gone by, he finds himself unable to keep up with his previous pace of planting churches and discipling new believers. Jail time has put a toll on his body. Long hours, long travel, persecution, stress, these all have aged him.

So, he has strategically placed younger men in places of service. 1.3: Timothy at Ephesus; Titus at Crete (1.5); He sends their replacements. 2 Tim 4.12: Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. Before that, in Titus, Paul sent Tychicus to Crete – evidently to carry that particular letter. Paul mentions that Zenas, the Lawyer, and Apollos have been there with Titus and that Titus should send them on their way to Paul. Crescens is in Galatia; Titus served in Dalmatia, as well as in Crete. Mark is serving somewhere along the way between Ephesus and Rome. It would be a hard, but fun study to locate all of the names of these young men and see where Paul had located them for service – with both locations and dates.

Now, added to their placement as overseers in their respective churches, Paul has given them instructions about how a church should look and act. Now, this is so important! Don’t miss that! That is what these letters, 1 Timothy and Titus, are all about; more on that in a moment.

t.s.: For now, let’s turn our attention to Timothy

2. To: Timothy

exp.: rd v 2; he uses the same language with Titus; my true child in the faith. The Gk word here is legitimate. I think this means that Paul had a hand in their conversion to Christ and their foundation in discipleship. My guess is that Timothy was converted to Christ on Paul’s 1^st MJ. We first meet Timothy in the book of Acts (16.1). Paul and Barnabas had finished their 1^st MJ and had returned to Antioch to report their mission work. After some days and some disagreement about how they should handle things, Paul and Silas take off on Paul’s 2^nd MJ. Their first stop is in Galatia, at Derbe and on to a small town called Lystra. This is where they meet a young Timothy, who has impressed the people of Lystra and Iconium – and Paul, too. Paul immediately recognizes his potential and wants Timothy to accompany them on their journey. And so begins a mentoring relationship between the two men that will last for the next 15 years or more. So great is this relationship, greater even than any other relationship Paul will have with many men, that Timothy appears in all but three of Paul’s letters. Galatians, Ephesians, and Titus. An interesting side note about that: Timothy was from Galatia and he was the pastor at Ephesus.

The rest of v 2 is a typical salutation – if there is such a thing. Paul has worked at refining his introduction through the years to reflect a high Christology. And, built upon that Christology is the authority given to Paul. It is typical in nature to other letters, but of course, reflects the change and growth in his faith. Listen to Gordon Knight:

This form of salutation reflects three factors: first, the teachings of the Christian faith have molded Paul’s adaptation of the standard form. Second, there is a great uniformity in this molding, especially in the grading section, which reflects a certain crystallization of his manner of expression of the essential Christian truths in these salutations. Third, there are certain variations that either reflect the recipients’ situation and need or anticipate and emphasize that which will be presented in the letter proper.

In all of his letters except the letter to the churches in Galatia, Paul refers to the recipients’ relationship to Christ (i.e.: to all the saints in Christ Jesus, as here – my true child in the faith, etc).

ill.: but here is where we can’t see the bond and what has forged it. As you read through acts you see Timothy right there with Silas and others, learning how to stand for Christ, learning that persecution will come. He is watching Paul as he suffers: in Philippi, in Thessalonica, in Berea as he watched Paul sail away alone – alone for his own safety; he is there in Corinth when the city erupted and wanted Paul’s head. Timothy was at Ephesus the first time Paul spoke there. He probably heard Paul’s promise to return if the Lord willed it. And the Lord did and Paul returned and stayed for two years. He watched as the people jumped up and down, screaming and yelling at the top of their lungs, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” He watched as Paul begged to address the thousands of people who wanted him dead. Paul saw a crowd where he could preach Christ. I’m sure Timothy was one of the men who begged him not to do that. The crowd yelled for two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

We have a bunch of material from Acts where Timothy watched and learned from Paul. But what about the “so much more” that we don’t have. What was it like in those prison cells as they had time for some one-on-one discipleship? What was it like for Timothy to listen to this brilliant man who knew the Scriptures and how to apply them? What was it like to watch as the man went from reading the Scriptures to quoting them because his eyes were failing him? What was it like to hear the story of Paul’s conversion and calling – to hear him tell it – the story we read about in Acts Chapter 9 without the inflection, without the emotion of Paul’s voice?

app.: As a pastor, I’m in awe of this relationship. Paul loves the people of Ephesus. He detests false teachers coming and leading people astray. He trusts Timothy to serve those folks – to teach sound doctrine and protect them from the foolishness that others try to bring into a church.

t.s.: which brings us to this last section… it deals with what I touched on at the end of the 1^st section… the purpose of these letters, and this one in particular.

3. Purpose: charge certain men not to teach a different doctrine

exp.: rd v 3; Paul gets straight to the point. This is why I left you there in Ephesus. This is why I’m writing to you! Paul deals with false teaching repeated through his ministry. We see it in just about every letter. We’ll see it in this letter, so you’re going to see it again and again (1.3-11; 13-20; 4.1-7; 6.3-10; 20-21).

• Myths (1.4; 4.7)
• Genealogies (1.4)
• A concern with the Jewish Law and its application (1.7)
• Empty sounds and contradictions referred to as ‘knowledge’ (6.20)
• Deception (4.1-3)
• Immorality (1.19-20)
• Financial Gain (6.5)
• Harsh Asceticism (4.1-5) through denying the self what God has blessed us with; rd; 4.1-5

ill.: false teaching is alive and well in the church today. Consider the following for us:

• For the first 1500 years of the Church’s existence – teaching came only through hearing the Word. Very few people could read it and very few people had access to it. The Word of God was spread through copies and often times, those copies were chained to the altar at the church. Regular people did not have their own copies. The only time they got God’s Word was through the preaching.
• Along come Guttenberg and his printing press, making it possible to have a copy of God’s Word. So, for the next few hundred years, the word of God could only be spread reading it and the public preaching of it. As the Word of God became more and more prevalent, it was outlawed in certain countries. The Church didn’t want it in the hands of normal people because they might teach falsely. I think it was more about control.
• The Advent of Radio and Recording makes it much easier to access the preaching part. But today, with the internet and TV, with its 557 channels and nothing on, you can hear multiple preachers in any given hour. False teaching can be pumped into your homes and into your head anytime you want to listen to anyone who tickles your ears.

app.: For me, it is a scary time.

• Consider Mayor Pete Buttigieg: the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, IN. He’s the next big thing for liberals because he is gay and he is married to a man. And, he is a very nice young man. He’s intelligent and articulate. He went to Notre Dame, Harvard, and Oxford. Ok, so far not too very different from most liberals. But, here’s the thing: he spouts his faith and declares his Christianity unashamedly. And this is where I think Sound Doctrine is of great importance to us. Just look at our text, down in v 8-11. Now, there are some, probably more on the internet than here in this room, who would say it is wrong from me to ‘judge’ him and his faith. I think to some degree that would be true. But this is where we need to be very careful. Scripture is clear on this issue. He may be sincere, but he is sincerely wrong according to Scripture. What is scary for me is that there is a group of young, progressive Christians who are pushing and supporting his rise through the Democratic party.
• Al Mohler recently shared an article which came out in the New York Times questioning the foundational doctrines of our faith: the Trinity, The Virgin birth, The Resurrection of Christ. I’m guessing it was Easter and all – and that’s the perfect time to attack Christians. Nicholas Kristoph interviewed a Seminary president: Serene Jones. She is the president of Union Theological Seminary. And the article basically boils down to throwing out the main tenets of our faith. Serene Jones doesn’t believe in a resurrection. She says the empty tomb illustrates that “the ultimate love in our lives cannot be crucified and killed.” She says there isn’t a resurrection in Mark – only an empty tomb. Kristoph challenges her, not really, but just so she can expand on her thoughts: But without a resurrection, aren’t we left with just the crucifixion? She answers: “Crucifixion is not something that God is orchestrating from upstairs. The pervasive idea of an abusive God-father who sends his own kid to the cross so God could forgive people is nuts. For me,” she said, “the cross is an enactment of our human hatred. But what happens on Easter is the triumph of love in the midst of suffering. Isn’t that reason for hope? Well, according to Paul – No! If all we have is the crucifixion, if Christ is not raised, then we are to be pitied above all men. If Christ is not raised, then we are hopeless and our faith is futile.
• Joel Osteen is a motivational speaker who masquerades around as a preacher. I’ve chosen not to slam other preachers, but I don’t think Osteen lands in this category: a preacher. Joel Osteen’s teaching revolves around the self. There is no guilt and shame – those things don’t belong at his church. He will not talk about sin – that is so degrading. What he focuses on is making you feel better about yourself when you walk out those doors.
• The following is from CBSNews.com this morning:

Rachel Held Evans, a popular, progressive Christian writer who challenged the traditional evangelical views, died Saturday, her husband confirmed in a blog post. She was 37.

Evans was hospitalized in April for what she described in a tweet as “a flu + UTI combo and a severe allergic reaction to the antibiotics they gave me.” Her husband, Daniel Evans, had been updating on her blog about her health, writing that she had been placed in a medically-induced coma.

On Saturday, he wrote that she had been weaned from coma medication, but seizures had continued and severe swelling of her brain had been found, which he wrote caused severe damage that “ultimately was not survivable.”

“This entire experience is surreal,” Daniel Evans wrote. “I keep hoping it’s a nightmare from which I’ll awake. I feel like I’m telling someone else’s story.”

Evans was the author of several books, including “Faith Unraveled,” “The Year of Biblical Womanhood,” “Searching for Sunday” and “Inspired.” She spent more than a decade writing about what she described as “faith, doubt, and life in the Bible Belt” on her blog. 

Her popular writing and views on Christianity often enraged traditional evangelicals. In 2015, The Washington Post called her the “most polarizing woman in evangelicalism.” She was an advocate for LGBT membership in the church, urged fellow pro-life Christians to vote for Hillary Clinton and wrestled with the role of the patriarchy in the church. She served on former President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. 

She eventually left the evangelical church, writing in 2016 that “church universal is so much bigger than white American evangelicalism, and that’s going to become ever more apparent in the months and years to come.” 

I’m sad that this young woman died.

But the saddest part of her story is that so much of her ‘ministry’ was much like Hymenaeus and Philetus. She rejected the hard parts of the Bible and followed how she felt. Many have been led astray. She had a great point. I too have been sickened at the organized church; the power plays of individuals; the segregation that is most evident on Sunday mornings.

t.s.: So, how do we handle this? Well, a guilty man should feel guilty. Sin is what separates us from a holy God and we have to deal with our sin. Most people just don’t want to change. But God loves us too much to leave us the way we are.

Conclusion: We must act and respond like Paul, who is being very clear that Sound, Healthy Doctrine is vital. It is what should guide the church. It isn’t enough to just babble on and place your focus on things outside of Scripture, like how you feel. We must be clear about what is in Scripture. And that is the whole purpose behind 1 Timothy.

Application:

1. The Charge: someone has to confront those who are teaching something other than sound doctrine. Someone has to cry out that the water has been poisoned. Don’t drink that water, but rather, come to the life-giving water. Here at Calvary, that is the elders’ responsibility.
2. The Word of God is our Standard: It has to be the standard. Culture changes; laws change; emotions change; The Word of God is unchanging! For Timothy, he had the letter to the Ephesians, and he had this letter. This letter closes with a plural “you” – that is ‘the church’, so it appears that Paul had the intention for this letter to go to the church, too.
3. The goal of this charge is love… v. 5; it isn’t to win arguments, but people. I’ll expound on this next week, but how can we say we love someone, but don’t love them enough to tell them the Truth.

As I think about Ms. Rachel Evans, I’m reminded that her passion was for those who were being rejected by the church. Something has got to change! But what must not change, is the Word of God on which we stand. What must change – is us. Love must drive us to understand God’s Word and use it as the standard for our faith.

2 Corinthians 12.9-21

Title: Called Out to Be Different

Text: 2 Corinthians 12-11-21

CIT: Paul concludes this passage with a review of his apostolic superiority and the sacrifice he has made to bring them the gospel and establish them as a church. His biggest fear is returning to them to find they are still like the world.

CIS: We are reminded of those who serve and sacrifice as God has called. Furthermore, we are reminded that we’ve been called to be distinct and different from the world.

Introduction: In Acts 8.1, we see a young man named Saul who was quickly rising through the ranks of the Sanhedrin. Zealous for his faith and powerful in his position, he traveled near and far to persecute those who were creating a cult religion from his religion. Stamping her out and purifying his religion were his goals. He was faithful, loyal and dedicated. He was also wrong.

Then, something incredible happened to him: he met Jesus and everything about him changed. Faithfulness, loyalty and dedication still characterized his life; however, Jesus had changed his manner. It became most evident in the change of his name. Saul means demanded or desire. Paul means little or small. No longer would Saul make demands as a zealous leader. From now on, he goal for purification of the church would come through different means.

v 9-10; I am reminded this week that the church has been at its strongest when she was weakest in the world. When she has power in the world, when she has influence through numbers, she becomes weak and idle, napping away in the light of God’s love. She is arrogant and haughty. But, when she was reduced to numbers of people who felt the scorn and shame of bearing Christ’s name, then, she was weak and feeble in the eyes of the world, but powerful in her service and sacrifice to God. That is when she became most useful to him.

In today’s passage, Paul repeats much of what he’s said throughout his letter. It’s what you do when you come to the conclusion of your paper or message. Tell them what you are gonna tell them. Then tell them. Then, tell them what you’ve just told them. Here is his conclusion – his epilogue to his foolish speech:

1. His Claim to Apostolic Superiority
2. His Courage in Apostolic Sacrifice
3. His Concerns in Apostolic Sincerity

1.     His Claim to Apostolic Superiority (11-13)

exp.: rd v 11a; forced means pressed; ‘between a rock and a hard place’; rd 11b; inferior; means to come up short; Romans 3.23; ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 2 Cor 11.5 & 9; need; in v 11-13, there are two ways it looks like he comes up short compared with these super apostles:

1. Is in comparison to their abilities and
2. In comparison to their abundance provided by the church.

exp.: he then explains to them that they are wrong by both accounts; 1. By signs and wonders and power (might deeds) – and 2. He wasn’t a burden to them;

1. By signs and wonders and power (might deeds); spiritual side (v 12); this is a clear indication that it is God who is working; we have an example in the Exodus (Deu. 26.8) God brought them out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; with great deeds of terror and signs and wonders. 6.27: ²⁷ He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.” Paul is reminding them God has displayed his power through the Apostle Paul – and they were witnesses to it. 2ndly…
2. He wasn’t a burden to them; physical side (v 13); Listen, to be in the ministry costs money. There is food, shelter, transportation costs; etc.

ill.: I’ve been blown away at the added expenditures we’ve incurred to send missionaries to our UUPG. What a great reminder that we have others on staff serving for us that we need to care for.

app.: Church, I’m done with this point, but don’t let this teaching moment flee from your minds. Let’s not be like the Corinthians who neglect Paul’s needs. Think of those who serve you and care for them. The UUPG missionaries: We don’t want them to be a burden to the people they serve. Kristin: she ministers to our children and many other children who aren’t members here.

t.s.: Paul opens this section with a reminder of his apostolic superiority, established through his work…2ndly,

2.     His Courage in Apostolic Sacrifice (14-18)

exp.: rd v 13a; This is the third (time) I have prepared to come to you. Really? We actually have no record of this other visit in Acts. And this has led some scholars to say that what Paul means is that this is the 3^rd time he has readied or prepared himself to come for another visit. But this doesn’t line up with 13.1-2; read; I can see how someone might take 12.14 and make it fit that way, but 13.1-2 takes too much work to change. I think it’s best understood as Paul wrote literally: This is the 3^rd time I’m coming to you; as I did when present on my 2^nd visit;

One more word about this: we don’t have to have a record of this 2^nd visit outside of this letter. After all, we didn’t have many of the events Paul describes in chapter 11 – concerning his suffering. My guess is that Paul made a quick, painful visit to Corinth while he was serving in Ephesus on his 3^rd MJ.

exp.: Then Paul gets to the heart of the matter; rd 14b: And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. The word burden has the connotation of weighing down; as in a beast of burden whose load is so heavy, it cannot carry it; however, the etymology of the this word shows that it eventually come to mean in Paul’s day, a financial burden – having such a debt to carry that it weighs one down. And You see this financial meaning illustrated as he continues in 14c; For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.

He explains this more fully in v 15a; spend and be entirely spent; exhaust; then, he asks a series of rhetorical questions:

1. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 15b
2. Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? v17
3. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps? v18

ill.: Its as if Paul is saying: I have sacrificed so much for you and will sacrifice more – how can you not see that? This is exactly what Paul says Christ did in 8.9: ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. He was spent out entirely on our behalf.

app.: Can we stop and rest on this truth for a moment? Apostolic Sacrifice is often overlooked. Those who have been called and commissioned to serve are often taken advantage of and then discarded when the church is done with them.

Ill.: Please allow me a bit of transparency and honesty here. When I took my 1^st pastorate in Wyoming, my greatest fear in following this call was that I would give all of my life in service to the church – spending my strength and energy, the vitality of youth, only to be discarded when I was older and weaker. At times that still takes over my thoughts: that I would sacrifice for you in so many ways while I am younger and stronger – then, when my energy would get lower and my mind not as sharp; when the church would be strong and healthy, you would forget those years of service and cast me aside for some younger, smarter, more talented preacher.

App.: but I am reminded often of my hero: Jesus. Think about the Calling of Christ – Sent by the Father; He humbled himself and was obedient to the will of the Father; abandoned by the very ones who called him Lord, he died on a criminal’s cross and was buried in a borrowed tomb; He is the picture of sacrifice on so many levels. He is Paul’s hero, too – the man he has attempted to pattern his life after.

t.s.: His Claim to Apostolic Superiority; His Courage in Apostolic Sacrifice; and finally

3.     His Concerns in Apostolic Sincerity (19-21)

exp.: He genuinely loves them! He has sacrificed for them; He has demonstrated his calling and commission before them through signs and wonders. Now, he asks them another question: rd v 19a; Lit.: defense in the Gk is the word from which we get apology. Don’t confuse them – he’s not using apology like we think of as “I’m sorry”. An apology is a defense for why you believe what you believe. But he clarifies: that is not what I’m doing here! Rd 19b; κατέναντι θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ λαλοῦμεν· Lit.: over and against (position or place) as in the opposite side; i.e: before God in Christ we speak. Rd 19c; and why? To build you up – like a house; οἰκοδομή – to build a house.

ill.: We’re not trying to defend ourselves for what we’ve done. No, we’ve done what we’ve done because we are building a house here – and you are that house. So we see his sincerity, now look at his concerns: rd v 20-21;

exp.: what a word for us today… my concern is that the church will be acting like the world! In

• Quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder
• Impurity
• Sexual Immorality – πορνεία; All forms of sexual misconduct – adultery; Fornication; Incest – 1 Cor 5; And homosexuality.
• Sensuality
• Practice – same word we have for the Book of Acts: The Acts of the Apostles.

app.: The church is not to ACT like the World! We are to act – practice Christianity. We repent of murder and impurity and sexual immorality and sensuality. It does not matter if the 5 Supreme Court Justices make a law saying that marriage is contrary to God’s Law. We obey God’s law. I declare publicly that I will not perform nor sanction homosexual marriages. Nor will I condone the killing of unborn babies – even if it is the law of the land. And furthermore – I will continue to proclaim this Word – that we has a church have a responsibility to abide by it’s laws over and above the laws established by 5 misguided justices.

But let’s remember the context: Paul is talking to the church, telling them to act like Christians. And, for those who don’t act like Christians – they will not be accepted in the church. The world is going to act like the world. We, however, have been called to come out from among them and be different.

ill.: Friday, when the SCOTUS issued its decision on homosexual marriage, I felt strongly that I should make a statement as pastor and for my congregation. I cannot begin to fully express my deepest disappointment, in spite of the fact that I was already pretty sure it was coming, when 5 non-elected individuals decided to redefine what marriage has meant for 5,000 years. This is what I wrote:

As a disciple of Christ who has established God’s Word as my standard, I cannot agree with the decision issued today by the Supreme Court of United States. The marriage of a man and a woman was instituted and sanctioned by God in the first two chapters of Genesis. Neither the state nor the nation has the right to redefine that standard of one man and one woman being joined together in holy matrimony. The marriage bond itself was created to be a picture of the gospel and of the relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and his bride, the church.

It appears now that the law of the land will be to recognize homosexual unions as the new standard for marriage. However, as believers, we must obey God rather than mankind. Regardless of the SCOTUS redefinition of marriage, as followers of Christ, we should proclaim the traditional definition of marriage as given by God. Nowhere in Scripture does God endorse same-sex marriage. In fact, there are multiple passages that condemn homosexuality in both the Old and the New Testament.

The message of the Gospel is the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ. The truth of the matter is we are all sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. No matter how sin is redefined, it doesn’t take away the need for forgiveness. Without the grace of God, we would be doomed to live out our lives blindly – following our own passions and pleasures. But God, in his infinite mercy, was gracious to us and not only showed us our sin, but offered us a way to find forgiveness from our sin. If we remove the need for forgiveness, then there is no hope and no Good News in our message for a lost world.

Therefore, we will show the grace and love of God to others, while taking a stand for traditional marriage, by openly proclaiming His message of repentance and the forgiveness of sin in Christ Jesus. While it is true that we disagree with others about same-sex marriage, we understand they need to be shown the same unconditional love that Christ has given us.

Application:

1. We don’t respond as the world does.
2. We take care of those who take care of us.
3. We make every attempt to keep the church pure.
4. We show the love of Christ in all matters.
5. We stand for the Truth and on God’s Word no matter what anyone else does. We’ve been called out to be different and to be distinct.

Conclusion:

How do we know if we’re doing this? Paul tells us in the next chapter, as he concludes this letter (and we’ll look at this in greater detail next week) to examine yourselves: see if you past the test. Are you in Christ, is Christ in you?

Invitation:

Statement from Dr. Fred Smith in reaction to the US Supreme Court ruling on marriage:

As a disciple of Christ who has established God’s Word as my standard, I cannot agree with the decision issued today by the Supreme Court of United States. The marriage of a man and a woman was instituted and sanctioned by God in the first two chapters of Genesis. Neither the state nor the nation has the right to redefine that standard of one man and one woman being joined together in holy matrimony. The marriage bond itself was created to be a picture of the gospel and of the relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and his bride, the church.

It appears now that the law of the land will be to recognize homosexual unions as the new standard for marriage. However, as believers, we must obey God rather than mankind. Regardless of the SCOTUS redefinition of marriage, as followers of Christ, we should proclaim the traditional definition of marriage as given by God. Nowhere in Scripture does God endorse same-sex marriage. In fact, there are multiple passages that condemn homosexuality in both the Old and the New Testament.

The message of the Gospel is the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ. The truth of the matter is we are all sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. No matter how sin is redefined, it doesn’t take away the need for forgiveness. Without the grace of God, we would be doomed to live out our lives blindly – following our own passions and pleasures. But God, in his infinite mercy, was gracious to us and not only showed us our sin, but offered us a way to find forgiveness from our sin. If we remove the need for forgiveness, then there is no hope and no Good News in our message for a lost world.

Therefore, we will show the grace and love of God to others, while taking a stand for traditional marriage, by openly proclaiming His message of repentance and the forgiveness of sin in Christ Jesus. While it is true that we disagree with others about same-sex marriage, we understand they need to be shown the same unconditional love that Christ has given us.