Bible In A Year - 1 Timothy

Our Father, once again, we come to you in the name that is above every name, the name of our Lord and Savior, your blessed Son, our Lord and our God, and we thank you and praise you for the wonder of life.

We thank you that you are a God who knows all about us. And, Lord, yet you still love us and you still are mindful towards us, and you think upon us, and we're grateful for that. We rest in you this morning.

We know that all of our hope and all that there is about us, our present and complete future, is in Jesus Christ and the promises that you've made to us in him. And we're grateful that we are the people of God through faith in Christ, through your sovereign great work of salvation.

And, Lord, we come to you this morning and ask that you please teach us. We need to be strengthened. We need to be helped. Lord, as we just continue day after day and month after month and year after year, as we open the word of God, we so desire that we may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and that we may be equipped and that we may be able to follow after the right things and to think upon the right things and to be able to have an answer for those that ask us the reason of the hope that is within us.

And, Lord, that we might be able to be careful to so order our lives that we bring more glory and honor to Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. All right, here we go continuing on with our study through the Bible and the New Testament and we're at the book of 1 Timothy.

1 Timothy is one of the pastoral epistles, and by that those are the epistles that have been categorized as the Apostle Paul or Pauline epistles written by Paul to pastors to help them. And, basically, that's what this book is all about.

Paul, the aged, the mature apostle, is going to help young Timothy, and the key verse in this epistle is the one that I put at the top of the sheet. From 1 Timothy 3 .15, Paul says,. But if I am delayed, I write, there he goes, he says, this is the reason why I'm writing, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself, or Timothy, you might know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth.

So Paul here not only gives young Timothy some exhortation on how to behave and how to handle the different situations in the church, and more importantly, when he talks to Timothy, writes Timothy, it is really having to do with how he conducts himself, how he guards his heart, how he lives before others and before God, and then also he does give instruction concerning church life and church living and church ministry, what to be aware of when it comes to false teachers.

Most of the instruction, of course, here is personal and directed right to Timothy, but of course we know that God's truth can be applied to us here today in a church when we have pastors, when we have those that are leading the churches, that they take a look at these exhortations, these instructions, these warnings to be able to go with, and also for those that are going to be involved in the church, those that are going to be ministering with the pastors, with the leaders in the church, what type of things and what type of people they're going to run into and how to handle those types of things.

And then, of course, we can come and personally and individually look at what God's word says when it comes to subjects of how we should pray, as in Chapter 2. Or in Chapter 3, what do we look for in the qualifications of those that will lead the church?

Or in Chapter 6, when it comes to widows that are in the church, what do you do with the women who have become widows and how are they to be taken care of? And what is the family's responsibility and what is the church's responsibility?

Chapter 6, false teachers, how do you deal with those? Or those that are rich, those that are increased with material possession, how ought they to live and what should they do and so on. So this book, written to young Timothy, kind of has a unique twist to it in that or a thought about it in that Paul calls Timothy in 1 Timothy 1 -2, he says to Timothy, unto Timothy, my own son in the faith.

I remember one time at a youth group, one of the young girls in the youth group on a Friday night as I was teaching in Texas said, I didn't even know Paul had any children. And we had to explain what that meant as far as being a spiritual father.

So he led Timothy to the faith, to faith in Jesus Christ. And Timothy looked to Paul as his spiritual father, as the one who helped him and discipled him and taught him. And this is the relationship that we have here.

It is a friendship that grew between Paul and Timothy. And Timothy was Paul's protege, so to speak. He nurtured him and he helped him. And then eventually, of course, as I said, he encourages him in this letter to be diligent, not only to exercise his own personal responsibilities, but also that he would take care of the business of the church, the things of God in a proper manner.

Timothy, his name means one who honors God. And he is the one that if you look in chapter 1 verse 3, Paul said, I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine.

So we see in this verse here that that Timothy has some type of position of authority. And Timothy was the pastor of this church at Ephesus, a young man who is leading the flock there. He was a man who was from Lystra.

We see that in Acts chapter 16, which is a province of Galatia. His father was a Greek. We hear as we read the scripture, his mother was a Jew. He was brought up under a godly influence. We see that in Second Timothy chapter 1 in verse 5, where he came under the influence of his mother and of his grandmother.

They taught him the scriptures. He from a child knew the scriptures, which are able to bring you to salvation, as written there by Paul in Second Timothy. Paul led Timothy to Christ. Again, he was his son in the faith.

Undoubtedly, during his ministry when he was in Lystra, because that's where Timothy was from on Paul's first missionary journey. So Timothy became Paul's disciple. He became his son in the faith. He became his friend.

And more importantly, as with other young men that Paul had this type of relationship with, Timothy, Mark, Titus, Philemon, these men, Paul and these men became co-laborers with the apostle Paul in the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ for the proclamation of that gospel and for the establishment of churches, for the edification of the saints to watch care over doctrine and watch care over the souls of those that would be in the flock.

Paul, we read in First Corinthians four that he would send Timothy to churches as his representative. And this letter finds him on another assignment, as I said, serving as pastor at the church at Ephesus.

Christ in 1 Timothy

Let's see. Christ in First Timothy. I like this down the bottom of the first page of the front of the sheet. Paul's letter to Timothy describes the person of Christ as in chapter three and verse 16. He was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world and received up to glory.

The verse there that speaks of God being manifest in the flesh, God coming incarnate in the flesh. But he also speaks of of the Lord's work in chapter two as being a savior. And we're going to look at that in a moment.

And and in this in this book, we we see in a couple of different places, there's some unique and great and powerful verses. And why don't we take a look at those in chapter one and in verse 17? Well, I'll read verse 16.

Paul writes, how be it for this cause, I obtain mercy that in me. First, Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering for a pattern to them, which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

Paul there is saying that he he became an outline. Paul became a sketch for imitation or a mold or a form onto which molten material would be would be poured. And it would take up the shape of that mold.

And Paul said he was a mold. He was a pattern. He was if you took a look at the apostle Paul's life, he was one who was a sinner, not not fleeing toward God, but fighting against God. He was one who persecuted the saints.

He was one who needed mercy. He was one who needed a savior. And God showed him grace. And God abounded with grace toward the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus and struck him down and stopped him, arrested him and saved his soul to the glory of God.

And he received mercy for the forgiveness of his sins. He was accepted in Jesus Christ. And he was one who, as he says in verse 15, he says that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.

He says, I am the foremost. I am. I am. I was the worst of the worst. And God saved me. And when we think of anyone who has been saved afterwards, don't we all come to that place where we believe that and we understand and we see that we were the chiefest of sinners, that God could not God could not have shown more mercy when he saved us.

It was a wonderful thing for God to do. And and Paul says, I'm a pattern. And isn't the gospel a mold? And like Paul, those who are subdued by it and those who are brought into obedience of its teachings become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

And that's what Paul says. I'm a I'm a pattern. But then he goes on in verse 17. He he just says something like this. I'm a pattern to those who should hereafter believe on Christ or believe on him to life everlasting.

Certainly it's Paul is writing again, as he has over and over again, that eternal life comes through belief, comes through faith in Jesus Christ. And then he says now unto the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God.

I wonder that must be where immortal, invisible. The hymn comes from. That we sing the king eternal, immortal, invisible and the only wise God be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. It's kind of like when you're ever riding down the road in your car and you're just thinking about the things of God, maybe maybe reviewing a memory verse and all of a sudden to your your soul is just flooded with the with the goodness of the Lord towards you.

And you just kind of break out in maybe silent or even audible praise to the Lord. And you say, oh, God, how good you are and how great you are to me and how wonderful. And and Paul does this often as he as he's writing.

You'll notice another another verse that's like this that speaks to Christ, speaks of the living God whom Paul is serving in verse chapter three and verse 16 is the one we read earlier. I just wanted to show it to you.

And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Well, who came in the flesh? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God. Another verse that speaks of the day, the deity of Jesus Christ.

God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world and received up into glory, speaking certainly of of the Lord Jesus. Another verse that we could look at.

Yeah, I'll save that one for later. In chapter six, after Paul admonishes Timothy to be faithful. And he's speaking of in verse 14, 6, 14. You he's admonishing him to keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable or without reproach unto the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So he's saying this is I'm speaking of Christ and in verse 15, which in his times he shall show who is the blessed and only potentate or the the blessed and only sovereign ruler, the king of kings and the Lord of Lords, who only has immortality dwelling in the light, which no man can approach unto which no man has seen nor can see to whom be honor and power everlasting.

Amen. And you see how Paul just exalts God and he and he and he blesses God. And he and he and he and he in a great way brings praise and honor to Jesus Christ. Well, those are those are just the quick kind of overview of the of the book.

You can as far as the sheet, you can look through this. Some of the words on the back, as far as definitions are very interesting. Take a take a peek at those as you're studying up and looking at this book.

One of the things I'll just show you a couple of threads that go through this book. One of the things that you'll see is Paul, as he says in chapter one. And in verse 15, he says, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance or worthy of all that except of acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.

And Paul does this in in one fifteen. Notice in chapter three, in verse one, this is a true saying. And you'll notice in chapter four and in verse nine, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance or acceptation.

And these Paul does this here. He does it in Second Timothy two eleven. And he says in in Titus, he uses it in Titus three eight. And what this is, is these sayings that Paul is that that he's referring to here, particularly back if you look in chapter one in verse 15.

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That was a saying that was well known in the churches at that time as concise expressions of root and core doctrine.

It would almost be like us today if we were to to have a creed that we would we would repeat and we would say it was just a well-known saying. It was something that just concisely and and and to the point got to root and core and very important doctrine.

And Paul does this over again as a way of just driving in the nail of what truth is and what doctrine is important. And of course, in this case here, it is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

And that, of course, would be based on like a verse like Luke 1910 for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Another thing that he does in this book, if you'll notice, let me see if I if I have my trusty.

No, I don't have them, but we'll find them. If you if you take a look at Paul uses another phrase. And I think let me see. I told Deb on the way in its marginal notes this morning. That's what we get.

It's not all written out. Chapter three. Notice verse 14, chapter three, verse 14, and notice the repetition of this word. These things, right? I under the hoping to come unto the shortly. And then if you notice in chapter four and in verse six, if thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, where into thou has attained verse 11.

These things command and teach verse 15. Meditate upon these things. Chapter five and verse seven. And these things give in charge that they may be blameless. And you'll notice as he's doing this, it's through almost every chapter as he's teaching.

And it doesn't matter what the subject is. He's he's putting the Christians, putting Timothy in remembrance of them and asking him and charging him to put the believers in remembrance of these things that he's teaching.

These practical instructions based upon what he's learned from Christ, based upon what God's directly revealed to him. But he's he's saying, put them. I mean, that one there in chapter five is dealing when it comes to the when it comes to the widows.

Look in. Let's see some other ones. Chapter five, verse 21. I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels. This is important that thou observe these things without preferring one and one before another.

Do nothing by partiality. And then I think in chapter six, we see it in verse two. At the end, he says, because they are faithful and beloved partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort that had to do with the duties of servants and the masters or the employees and the employers.

There might be you see. Oh, yeah. In verse in chapter six. In verse 11. But thou, oh man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness. Are there any more?

I may have skipped some, but you see that Paul and when Paul when Paul's writing, he's it's not just it's just not nebulous. It's not just guesswork of what it is. He doesn't just say, you know, do these things.

It's kind of like working at your job and you're ready to have a performance review. And and when it comes back to you, it's like all in general terms. You know, there's nothing specific on it. But Paul is very specific as he's teaching.

You go through and he's and he's giving instruction. And then he says these, you know, and these things you need to observe. These things teach. These things command. These things uphold. These things flee away from.

It's it's very clear what it is that the believer is supposed to embrace and what the believer is supposed to run away from. And why do you think it's repetitive like that? What is it about us and why would why do we need this?

And he guesses. Why do we need to have this repetition? Because we're dumb sheep. The sister reminds us, yes, it's true. And we forget and we need to continually be reminded. I was I was speaking to someone who I can't remember who it was.

And I can remember teaching a Sunday school series on the Ten Commandments once when we were serving in a church in Texas. And I just remember pounding it away. And I thought, you know, I'm just I'm just doing my faithful job here.

I'm doing the best that I can. And I'm thinking I'm just laying it out so simply. And everybody's grasping this. And it was like there were certain individuals. And whenever you're teaching, it's not always that you're you're pointing out or it's coming.

I mean, sometimes when you're sitting there listening, if it's coming at you, you know, it's it's the Lord doing that, because many times the teacher or the preacher does not know everything about you, the particular details.

But God knows you and he knows what you need. But I was I had as I was teaching afterwards, I was thinking there's a few people that really need to know this. Well, they weren't knowing it. You know, it just it just wasn't the light bulb wasn't coming on.

They weren't embracing it. And this was probably like in February. And when I finished the series and then in March, we had a spring conference, had one every year in the church, kind of like what we do have here.

And a bunch of speakers would come in. And sure enough, one of the one of the pastors who came from the church, he he began he had like two or three times to preach and he preached on the Ten Commandments, particularly at the end, where it kind of just wraps it all up with covetousness and how covetous, covetousness can be the core and root of all other sins.

When your heart is just embracing things about not to be in your jealous and get envious and all this. And I'm saying, yeah, I've I've heard this. I remember this in my series. And where did you know it?

After that, that conference, we come. It's all over. We fold up the tent. We used to meet outside in the tent until we got a bigger building. And we would we had an opportunity during our church services to have testimonies.

And what did you know with those people who I was praying for and desiring, you know, to get it during my during my class? They didn't get it then. They got it during the conference. But I'm thankful that they they got it and they began to walk in that truth and embrace it.

But, you know, it's the Lord that deals with our hearts and it's in his timing. And we're like that. I mean, we we need a continual reminder and we need to hear things over and over again. That's why I've kind of like the teaching style of Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones.

I don't know if you've ever heard any of his tapes or written any of his books. And it's every time I every time I read him, I can hear him because I've listened to his tapes. And he'll he'll he'll say something like, well, it is very important that the Christian should run away from evil.

And then he'll he'll do this. Or let me put it this way. It is so important for the believer to embrace the truth of God or better yet. Let me put it. And he does that, you know, three or four times. And because he's just kind of hitting it from all different angles because we all learn differently and it all.

But but isn't that so true about us? Sometimes we think we know something. We know it in our head, but we're we're needing to be continually reminded of truth. And Paul does a very good job of that. And that's why I think as he's right and you see him, it was intentional for him to continue to say these things, put them in remembrance.

These things teach and command them. Very important for us. And it's kind of neat. I just like finding things like that as you read the Scriptures, because God is precise and the words are there for a reason.

One Mediator Between God and Men

Let's do this. Go with me to Chapter two. And I want to just to kind of point out a couple of verses here and there, and then we'll end up where I'd like to finish up in Chapter six. But in Chapter two, we read these verses.

And starting in verse five. For there is one God. And one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus, there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. I want to kind of look at this verse because it's very, very important when it comes to salvation.

It's very important when it comes to dealing with false doctrine. This idea of a mediator. The mediator is is someone who intervenes between two parties, maybe to resolve a conflict or to ratify a covenant.

So you have somebody of two parties and they may be at odds or there's a difference between them or something's going on between them. And you have a mediator who is a go between. One who tries to reconcile the two parties to bring them together.

And maybe even in the in the times as it's used in the New Testament times to ratify a covenant or to to get a document or some agreement, a promise sealed so that the two agree together. And why is it it says here, who is the mediator between here?

It's between who are the two parties. On one hand, we have God. On the other hand, man, God and men. Now, why is it that there is a need for a mediator to begin with? Why? Why would there need to be a mediator between God and men?

I mean, I thought God is the father of us all. I mean, we're all God's children. Everybody in the world is a child of God and everybody's going to be saved and everybody's going to heaven. And if you listen to the tape and you're here this morning, just keep listening, because that's not what we teach, not what we believe.

And I'm just kind of speaking about how people think about God and people. I mean, everybody's OK. Everybody's going to be safe. Why is it that there's a need for a mediator between God and men? Because sin has separated between us and our God.

Yes. Because of the unholy, I mean, because of the unholy, sinful, rebellious nature of man. And on the other hand, the holy, impeccable, pure. Unique, distinct. Nature, an essence of God. God being so holy that Habakkuk, it's written in Habakkuk, that he is of such pure eyes that he cannot even look upon sin.

Now we see why we need a mediator. Because we have a people, we have God and we have man, and the relationship isn't one of, or there is no relationship. What they are is that, as the scripture says, that while we were yet sinners, or while we were yet what?

When we think of warfare, what is the relationship? It's enemies. That's what the scripture says. We're enemies of God. It's adversarial. It's at odds. And therefore, there's a need for a mediator. Now, it doesn't say that for there is one God and many mediators.

That's what religion will teach. One God, many mediators. And some of the mediators that are offered up are the saints in the Roman Catholic teaching. There is a saint to help you, the patron saint for different things in your life, for safety, for blessing, for material blessing, when you're traveling.

There's different saints that you pray for to be able to get access to God, to go through that saint to get to God, to get what you need. And God says, no, there is one God and only one mediator. It's not Mary.

It's not because she's the mother of God. She has some type of sway or power over Jesus. And if you go to Mary, she's certain to speak to Jesus and you'll get what you need. And therefore, to come down from God through Mary.

No, there's one God and one mediator. It kind of reminds me of Acts 4, 12, where the scripture says to us that there is only one savior. Let me quote the read the verse that neither is neither is there salvation in any other.

For there is none other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. And, of course, Peter is preaching there. And we know that that is speaking up in the verse, two verses previous of Jesus Christ, one mediator between God and men.

And it is the man, Christ Jesus, only Jesus Christ can restore peace between God and men. And what doctrine is that known as or known? What doctrine we say that is when we have God and man warfare. You read in in Romans, chapter eight, that that the natural man is at enmity with God, is that warfare at odds with God and Jesus Christ is the only one who can can bring the two parties together.

And how did he do that? Substitutionary death upon the cross with his death and his blood. We see that in in Ephesians, chapter two, that the two parties are brought together through the cross of Jesus Christ, through his blood.

And therefore, through Christ's blood, we have been what unto God? Second Corinthians, chapter five, around verse 19 or 20, reconciled. Right. When we think of a reconciliation, it's it's two people that are fighting and they and they husband wife.

And they're going to reconcile or two friends. They reconcile. But this is the greatest reconciliation of all, in that when we, through God's work, are reconciled to God through his son. And it says it says and it speaks of in terms that are so very clear.

There is one God and one mediator between God and men. The man, Christ Jesus, or the only perfect God, man, is the only one who can be reckoned or bring reconciliation between us and God. Now, the verse, the next verse goes on to say, and you're going to again, we got to we got to think about the way we approach scripture and the way we look at that.

This verse is one that can can be misused, who gave himself just speaking of Christ, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. I think it says here that Jesus Christ gave himself to be a ransom for all to be testified in due time.

Jesus gave himself to be a ransom for all. Now, if you take this to if you if you take this out of context and you look at this, you could you can make this say and you can put your template of of systematic teaching or unsystematic teaching over it and look at it through your template and say, see, the Bible says that Jesus gave himself and when he died, he died for everybody.

I mean, they'll that's what people will try to do. And this is a verse that they will come to. But as I believe Pastor Mike had brought this out when he was teaching through this, maybe it was one evening.

I don't know if you heard it, but I will kind of go back in the in the in the text. If you go back to verse one, Paul says, I exhort you, therefore, first of all, that supplications and prayers and intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men.

For kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

And what is being taught here is in its text is that we ought to pray for all men. We ought to pray for all sorts of men, for all kinds of men, kings, those in authority. I mean, everybody around us. But it's it's the word.

The word all here is is is more defined or distinctly defined in here as being particular types of people. So that when we come to verse four, it says, who will God will have all men to be saved. Well, if God desired, if it was or if I put it this way, if it was God's decree, if it was God's supreme will that all would be saved, how many would be saved?

All would be saved. But we know that not all will be saved. We know that the elect of God who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, that number that we cannot number, that great host of people, those are the ones that will be saved and included in that group are all sorts of people.

That's what he's speaking of here. And we look at elsewhere and we see that there are of all nations and tribes and languages and tongues. God will have all men or all sorts of or all kinds of men to be saved.

And if you carry that through birth to verse six, who gave himself a ransom for all, it then would mean in context that it's all kinds of people or all sorts of people. Jesus, even himself speaking, our Lord speaking.

If you just hold your place here, if you want to turn to it in Matthew 20, it's sometimes very good to reference verses because we know that when the apostle is writing, he has been taught of God and no doubt he heard what the Lord Jesus had taught and what the Lord Jesus had spoken, what the Lord Jesus had revealed to him.