1 Timothy 1, “Can You Stay?”

1 Timothy 1: The Charge to Stay on Course

1st Timothy chapter 1. Read the whole chapter beginning of verse 1. Hear the word of the Lord Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope to Timothy my true child in the faith grace mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord as I urged you when I was going to Macedonia remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different Doctrine nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart in a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons by swerving from these have wandered away into vain discussion Desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

Now we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Understanding this that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient for the ungodly and sinners for the unholy and Profane for those who strike their fathers and mothers for murderers the sexually immoral men who practice homosexuality Enslavers liars Perjurers and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the Blessed God With which I have been entrusted.

I Thank him who has given me strength Christ Jesus our Lord because he judged me fateful Appointing me to his service though formerly. I was a blasphemer persecutor and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted Ignorantly and unbelief and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with a faith and love that are in Christ Jesus the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of Who are of whom I am the foremost?

But I received mercy for this reason that in me as the foremost Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life to the king of ages Immortal invisible the only God be honor and glory forever and ever.

Amen. Discharge. I entrust to you Timothy my child in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you that by them You may wage the good warfare. Holding faith and a good conscience by rejecting this some have made shipwreck of their faith.

Among whom are him and a s and Alexander whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. May the Lord had his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word. Well last April I think it was April.

I ran the bridge to bridge 10k In Danville and I began with my usual strategy. Yeah, I ran a race yesterday to another 10k. But I did the same thing which is I didn't worry about the start. Don't try to start out too fast.

A lot of people start out fast and don't let them Distract you and and go try to go with them. But because after Well in a in a popular road race like that there are a lot of people will start out much faster at a much faster pace than they can stay at and That proved true yesterday, too.

After about a mile or two I'll be overtaking people and and get to a point where I'm looking for the next person up ahead I can take overtake him usually him and then over and after I pass him overtake another one and I go through the race like that trying to pick off one after another and It's what I did yesterday is what I did at the bridge to bridge 10k and and in April now in the really The question that separates a good distance runner from the others is not how fast they can start But whether they can stay at it over the miles.

So in that bridge to bridge Race started out the same way was started out, you know by the you know Danville the community market across the bridge and then went on the Riverwalk Trail and After about a mile or two Is the race the runners became thinned out?

I looked ahead. And I could see on the Riverwalk Trail about 200 yards ahead was a runner I recognized I know this guy. This is Brian areas and he was the next one in front of me. So he's the one next I'm aiming at to try to pass and I started to look for signs From him if I was gaining on him, you know, you could see when he passes a landmark.

How fast am I there and then the next time when I'm getting closer a couple of times. He would pass someone then a little bit later. I would pass that same runner, but I never caught up to him. He stayed about consistently about 200 yards ahead of me through the entire like next four miles of the race until the end.

There was even one runner that he caught up to it about the five mile mark. And you know, it's a 6 .2 mile race. And so there's only about a mile to go. He caught this runner who had just completely had stopped as his walking.

You know, he got too tired and as Brian passed him he got inspired or something or maybe he thought he could now Stay with Brian. He began to try to run behind him and that didn't work. He soon gave up and started walking again, and then I passed the same guy a little bit later.

In this runner whoever he was had made it through five miles of a 6 .2 mile race, but couldn't stay. Couldn't even stay running for one more mile. But Brian got off to a better start than me and he was able to he was able to stay at the pace for the rest of the race.

How about yourself? Can you stay? Some Christians get off to a fast start. They're gonna go to every prayer meeting and Bible study and volunteer for every outreach. You know, they're not gonna just read a chapter a day of the Bible.

They're gonna read like, you know an hour's worth a day and they're gonna do all this and. They're gonna give so much to the church and so much money that they have to cut off their cable TV or a scale back.

Their cell phone plans and and all that seems great man. They're they're on fire. They're zealous and but then they Often they hit a wall they get tired and soon they're not just cutting back their involvement.

Maybe focusing on just one thing that they're gonna help with but then they're sometimes end up dropping out entirely. They can't stay. The secret of success first is having a goal and Then just staying.

After it just keep running for it here first. Timothy 1 the Apostle Paul gives us the goal. It's nicely marked out for us clearly stated in verse 5. The aim other words the goal of our charge is is this is love.

That issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Got it. That's the goal. Our goal is love that comes out of a new life that the gospel brings now here in 1st Timothy 1 the Apostle Paul gives us directions on how to reach that goal and staying.

Constancy.

Consistent exertion toward the goal. Stictuitousness, whatever you want to call it is Is an ingredient in all of them and he shows us that in five parts first stay focused second stay together third stay away from distractions fourth stay the course and fifth Stay on duty.

Stay Focused on the Gospel and the Goal

Well first he tells his young friend Timothy. Stay focused. You know after his salutation in the first two verses that's a sort of Usual way to open a letter in their culture like that. Take who you are and then who you're writing to then Paul's first command to Timothy is simply, you know, stay where you are.

Don't retreat. Don't go off elsewhere. You know, don't just quit. Don't start sitting out. Resumes looking for another place to go. But in verse 3 Paul writes as. I noticed this as I urged you. Otherwise, this is something Paul has told him before personally as when I was going to Macedonia remain At Ephesus, I would stay there.

Now there must have been a great and you know Paul had to tell him first tell him urged him and then he writes it again. There must have been a great temptation of Timothy here. Just pack up his bags and go elsewhere.

Yeah, I thought Paul's urged him and then he's writing it again. He's reminding him. It's or my name of the simple instruction suggests that you know, something is happening at Ephesus that makes Timothy want to leave.

Things are getting difficult. You know, may you just give up there go somewhere else where it's easier, you know. Where the grass is greener? The other side of the fence. And we see this in our culture all the time when the kids who quit little league teams when their teams aren't winning.

To employees who just even they give up when they hit the frustrations of their job. Just quit to marriages that dissolve because they get spouses get tired of working things out to church members who you know.

Take some perceived slight as an excuse to drop out or even pastors of all people who get tired of being disappointed or maybe. You know like all these other people imagine, you know grass must be greener somewhere else.

And this seems to be the situation Timothy was in there were there were serious problems there in the church in Ephesus. Where Timothy was and there were there were leaders who were teaching false doctrines.

There were those who were trying to intimidate him and harass him. He was apparently he was a young man and they were trying to dominate him and perhaps, you know looking around man. That church in Smyrna those people are really nice there.

They love me there. I go there. It's not my resume. But Paul tells him urges him.

Stay.

We two need to learn to stay to remain in some difficult callings from God to resolve. I'm gonna Stay under this through this unpleasant time have commitment to follow through and persevere. You know, we like to talk about how the kingdom of God is a great treasure that it's a joy to find.

It's like a pearl that is, you know. Even if you reasonably calculate cost-benefit ratio. This is worth giving up everything else for this great pearl of worth everything I have and that's all true. But part of the price we pay for that joy is sometimes having to stay faithful.

Through some difficult times to just keep persevering. When it when it feels as if all the pleasure in it has just evaporated like dew on a hot summer day. You know what you want to know the secret of being a good long-distance runner.

Now sure to be an elite. I mean like marathons or but you win the Boston Marathon or go to the Olympics that that takes some inborn talent if you don't Have it you really can't Manufacture it but but really just to do.

Well, it's sort of these local road races. They have around here. Really? All you need to learn to do is to stay stay at it. Run stay focused day in and day out week after week and you probably get good enough.

You can win your age group or something like that. Love the long-term pleasure of being able to stay running. Rather than the short-term pleasure of being able to stay on the couch and It's the same with our Christian lives.

We must we must see and run after the long-term pleasure. Jesus Christ is our hope He says in verse one. That's how he that's how he describes Jesus. Is that all that's usually not the way with the first thing we would think to describe Jesus with it, would we?

Our hope but that's the way Paul begins. I was we're motivated. We're inspired by that. Oh, man, imagine Timothy is being tempted to go elsewhere. And so Tim Paul reminds him. Hey, Jesus is our is our hope.

Maybe Timothy was looking around at Ephesus man. This place is hopeless. I'm giving up here. I'm going somewhere else. No, he says Jesus is your hope and so we're motivated inspired by the hope if we can stay it's because of hope.

If we Really see him then we have the hope he brings then that hope will push us through some trying times. We'll continue to pray when the temptation is just a rollover in bed. We'll continue to read the Bible all the way through the book of first Chronicles.

We'll go you ever seen those those genealogies you ever read through all those. We'll go to prayer meetings and reach out even when it doesn't feel rewarding. We'll listen and learn and be corrected because we have a hope that drives us through some short-term discomfort.

Toward the goal of long-term joy. We have hope when we look to Christ when we since he Alone is our salvation. He comes from him. All right, so we stay focused and That takes a team. We need others staying with us to keep us going keep us on track.

Reminding us of what we're committed to do. You know something they can stay with the Lord. Without staying with his people as though you could somehow cling to Christ without clinging to his body. When we stay though, we have to stay together in verse 3 Paul tells Timothy to stay at.

Ephesus a.

Particular body of people I'll just you know, just stay with the Lord but stay there with these people these fellow believers stay. Don't stray. God has called his people together as a body the church.

The church is a gathering of people who are committed to staying together. So we can stay Close to Christ so they can so we can reach that goal of love. What's the goal? You remember love from a pure heart a Justified conscience and a living a real faith.

It's not staying with an organization. It's not staying with a building. It's staying together now for Timothy here. He has to stay with the church to keep its teaching, right? It's the purpose for his staying there.

Paul says in verse 3 and verse 4 to charge certain persons and this would be true of pastors and of elders today. This is why you need to stay for it stay charge certain persons not to teach any Different doctrine any different than what he teaches the gospel nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.

By the way, this is you know, one of these things we find this a lot today. People will not deny the gospel. Won't deny the basics of good theology of sound doctrine. It can say it can sign off on all the creeds.

But the reason they don't deny it is they hardly ever think about it. They hardly even enters their mind to think about what the gospel is what's the basics of the faith are because they're out just all.

You know looking at these trivial things. It's nonsense. They're talking about four blood moons or about this or that. This this is just meaningless things. They're they're so wrapped up in these trivialities.

That they never they never get around thinking about serious Doctrine and so they never deny it that way. But Paul says tells them both make sure they don't deny sound doctrine and make sure they're not distracted by all these.

You know this nonsense out there. So Timothy is the leader the pastor the church in Ephesus was to stay in order to correct now for you. Maybe you said well, I'm not a elder not a pastor. How's that gonna help what's I got to do with me?

That means you need to stay where you can get right teaching where you can get not distracted. By four blood moons or whatever it is where you could be corrected. And the last two verses he's even told the last two verses of the chapter Timothy's told to correct those who violate their own conscience.

Seems a little odd to us today. You did what you think is wrong. I don't think it's wrong, but you did it. What we think today is when we think of conscience is one's private preserve. Consciousness between me and God.

No one can tell me what my conscience to say. But Paul's vision of the church is of a body that holds one another to account even to account for our own Consciences now. Christians in our day are often so individualistic that we don't see that we need other Christians to stay with to remain in fellowship with to to worship together with to pray with and Run the race with.

They think that they're alone pioneers. You know, it's just Jesus and me and we're going out to conquer the world. But even the pioneers heading West usually travel in wagon trains because they knew they knew they needed to stay together.

For protection. They knew they needed the guidance of experts to stay on the right path. Otherwise, they end up The Donner party getting caught in the blizzard in the mountains and ended up having eat each other.

You don't want to do that. Even in the sport like running that appears so individualistic. So simple people that don't know running think they can get along just as well without a team or without a coach.

It's not true. Even in that if you really want to get in top shape, you're gonna need a team. You need teammates to encourage you to challenge you sometimes to cajole you along you need a coach to stay on you.

To keep you on task keep you doing the practices and running the miles and doing the workouts. You need to stay together under the leadership to reach your potential. So stay together and Paul takes it even a step further.

He's telling Timothy and not just to stay, you know stay among them be a good influence be one of the bud buddies. They're hanging out with the rest of the guys. It's not just that. For Timothy, he's telling this young man to stay and notice the verb there in the middle of verse 3.

But he's cut what he's telling Timothy to stay to do.

Charge.

Timothy you charge Them charge our command. It's a military term. He'll use military analogy later in the chapter. It literally means to pass commands from one to another. Like in the army, it's what officers do they pass the commands on to the troops.

It's what Timothy was doing for what Paul was doing for Timothy and Timothy was to do for the rest of the Christians there. We need we need people leaders who will pass on the Lord's commands not just their own commands though.

They better know the difference between their own commands and and the Lord's commands. Otherwise they get off track. They don't do it on their own authority. They are to pass on orders given to them from above for the purpose of reaching the goal that the army is determined to reach and.

The church here is like that army. And I mean these officers right we are to stay they are to stay on us. That's what we're here for. You know that that's part of what you're here for. So you'll have some people staying on you to stay focused by having others Stay on us.

That's what I'm trying to do. Now. I'm trying to stay on you. Timothy's Commission here is to especially to hold the false teachers in check. I don't think we have any false teachers here. Not that I know of to tell them and know in certain terms to stop.

Charge them to stop command them authoritative kind of word the Apostle Paul expects Timothy to take a strong line with. Those false teachers because the gospel is at stake now if we are to if we are to make it to the goal.

Remember the goal.

We need leaders who are not afraid to stand up and say no. You can't teach that here. To tell people that unless they change they will make shipwreck of their faith as he says in verse 19, you know shipwreck.

There's these rocks on the shore. The ship is guided off course. It'll hit the rocks. You got to keep on course. Stay on stay away from the rocks. That's what Timothy was to stay to do. That's where word is.

That's why we're to stay under so that we if we start to quit. Or we start to stray. We'll have someone staying on us. Pulling us back. No this way. You could start out. Well determined. Heading the right way.

But you can then get led off course carried along by the currents of your self-will your convenience and You'll get shipwrecked if you don't have leaders or You don't follow the leaders you do have. I've told the story before.

It's been a little while, but I've told it you should tell it a lot the story of cross-country, right? Some of you haven't heard it. I don't think Brian and Alex they haven't heard it but when trying to cross country base in West Georgia where I got off course and All I had to do is follow this white chalk line.

On the ground for five miles of the race, you know. See, it should be impossible to get lost right. The line guides you the whole way. But I got lost and eventually the line led me. I got lost because the line led me to where I didn't want to go.

I was tired. About three miles into this race and I was in the line led me to jump over a bush. I didn't want to do that. So I started to rationalize. Surely the man, you know the man who laid down the line made a mistake.

He got distracted ran into a bush about half the other runners thought the same thing and We trusted ourselves. We trusted our rationalization. There's all really coming out of our desire. Take an easier route to avoid the obstacles to go the way that seemed to us from our limited perspective.

To be the most reasonable and we ended up getting all lost. All confused. The whole race was canceled all because we didn't go. We didn't stay true to the simple instructions given to us. We were distracted.

And the Apostle Paul tells us to stay away from distractions. Timothy is not only supposed to correct false teachers. But to command easily distracted people who want to argue and fuss over minor things.

Or over things that really don't even exist at all. Silly myths. The problem with them is not so much that they are wrong, but they are distracted. Just as there are people today who want to argue. You want to argue particularly today.

They want to argue about how the end times is going to unfold. You know when the Rapture is gonna be they want to argue about all that. But then they don't want to make their lives ready to meet Christ at any moment.

They're distracted. They're getting off course. They've lost sight of the goal.

Remember the goal.

Love out of a pure heart. Justified conscience. A sincere faith. They occupy themselves with a lot of tomfoolery some of its sophisticated. Maybe if they're reformed they'll want to talk about the decrees of God before.

You know eternity past. He's super elapsed arianism. Mars or infralapse arianism and they'll debate all that. Some of it's not sophisticated for blood moons. That's you know, come on. They are as Paul writes Describes them in chapter 1 verse 6 those who have swerved From away from the goal.

They've wandered into vain discussions. They're reformed. They'll have really sophisticated Vocabulary big words and You know a lot of history, but some of it is just distractions. They go astray into a wilderness of words and Paul says that they are men who often they're men who don't know what they're talking About.

They want to be teachers, but they will not sit first meekly and learn. They want to assert doctrines. With a confident swagger, but they don't want to be corrected by those who know better. You know you understand.

Some people think of you if you're involved in religion and you're doing Bible studies. You really love God, but understand if you're not seeking to get wealthy, you're not seeking immorality. You're you're really certain.

You know seeking God's kingdom, but understand that there's other things that people are motivated by besides money or besides sex. Some people are motivated just by glory by ego. They want to be looked up to and a lot of people go into religion for that to satisfy that.

I mean look at this. I'm getting you people. They're staring at me. Like I know what I'm talking about. And this feeds my ego make me feel good. And it makes you they love that feeling of being an important person when they can tell others what to do.

The sense of power of emphatically pronouncing something is true and It can be called just a word game an opportunity for them to assert their self-will or to feel the thrill of speaking.

For God.

Even if they don't really know anything about God. There are there are people like that. There's a lot of people like that in religion. Understand if you want to go for money, maybe go into business. I'll go for immorality.

You want to. I don't know what you do. I guess you go to nightclubs on Saturday night, but You know if you want to if you just love your ego fed. Sometimes the church can be just for that and people who use religion as a tool to get power or just to be looked up to as the one who knows it all and They may speak eloquently about the things of God, but watch what happens when they are corrected.

And then what why would they do it in particularly around here you get many who want to be preachers. But don't want to spend any time Being educated, you know being prepared for that so that they actually have something to say.

When someone like Timothy had been already trained by Paul before this when someone like Timothy comes to them. These kind of people it commands them to stop and listen. They will they will hate it. The true Christian comes to church to be fed the Word of God the one with it.

Remember that goal. Part of it's the sincere faith. Their faith is sincere. They really really want to know the Lord. It's not it's not fakery. They will have how they're gonna show that they want to be fed the Word of God.

They want their hearts softened. They want their ears on stop. They want to be changed. They want to know they want to learn. They want to grow they want to be corrected even if it's things because they they want to be More like the Lord they want to please him.

The kind of people that Paul though is talking about here are those who have swerved from that goal. They're not seeking a sincere faith anymore. They desire to be they may desire to be teachers. But they don't desire first and gaining understanding those hate correction.

They they are unteachable teachers. And we have a lot of those today Unteachable teachers they they haven't stayed focused on the main thing in their hearts. They've already swerved. They've been distracted from the goal.

They aren't seeking remember the goal. You know, you know what is first five this they aren't seeking love but self exaltation.

They don't have a pure heart.

They have mixed motives. No, some of it is ego motives. They don't have a good conscience. They violated it they're doing what they said they would never do. They they don't have a sincere faith. Maybe they're the type that it would cry how much they love to hear the preaching of the word those.

They'll proclaim that preach it brother. They shout and then they'll be quick to run out or run away from The preacher if that word stings them their actions show the insincerity the self-serving nature of their faith.

So don't be like them don't be distracted stay together stay with those who care for your soul. Stay with those who will correct you and tell you the truth. Hopefully in love and kindness. For verses 8 to 11 Paul corrects one of the major misunderstandings of the distracted the unteachable teachers of Timothy's day.

Remember the goal love from a clean heart a sincere faith. They really wants to follow Jesus. That's where the course of our lives and of our church should take us but these these faults are maybe just trivial teachers.

The here what they don't understand. Is that the way to reach that goal? Love from a clean heart justified conscience a true faith. You reach that goal not by rule-keeping. You know, they think it is they think you got to keep these rules.

That's how you get to that goal, but they've really lost sight of it. They don't understand the gospel dynamic of of life change that the only way to have a clean heart. That's the goal. Conscience that is right with God and a real faith.

The only way to do that is by being born again. Made a new creature. Now once that is done. Then we can reach our goal we can love really love first love God with all our heart. Worship him passionately bow before him humbly.

And then we can love other people our neighbor as ours ourselves but it that comes not by Religious requirements. We check off our list our self-serving gimmicks. But out of a lot of lives that have been transformed by God's grace.

So but these self-appointed experts these unteachable teachers think it comes by following the law. But Paul says they don't know what they're talking about. One cannot make a bad apple tree good by Encouraging it yelling at it.

Commanding it bear good apples. You could try that it's not gonna work. They don't understand that they use the law. Paul says in verse 8 Unlawfully, that is they use it for the purpose. God's law was never intended for.

The only way the apple tree is gonna bear good apples is if it gets changed from the inside. Well, they use the law to make a list of don'ts and by avoiding them they think they have pleased God. Don't go to movies.

Don't listen to secular music. Don't drink any alcohol. Don't dance, you know, whatever on and on. That's an unlawful use of the law actually. It's an unlawful use of man-made laws. They make up their own laws and then they use those that's even worse than what we have here here at least these unteachable teachers.

They were using God's law when Paul talked about the law. He means God's law that we called the Torah the first five books of the Bible. And and he's saying that these unteachable teachers. They're using God's law.

Unlawfully and in a wrong way. Now you might expect in if that's what Paul is up against. These false teachers who are using God's law in in a way He doesn't like if that's what he's up against that you might expect him to do what a lot of people in our day.

Do you know what a lot of people say about the law today? There's no use in our lives. No use at all. That is all unlawful and pronounce us free of it all. All right, that is that it's a relic the law they say is a relic of a bygone age and Has no bearing on us now.

It's not relevant to us anymore. We're free from the law. Right. How many times you hear that meaning when people think when they say that is that I Don't have to listen to anything it says. But that's not what he does.

That's not what Paul does indeed by saying that the unteachable teachers were using the law.

Unlawfully.

Doesn't he imply that there is a lawful use of the law that it still serves a purpose in our lives. Then he goes through a list of sins. Starting in the middle of verse 9 list some sense specific sins there and I won't repeat them.

But they're self-explanatory. I think it's clear by the way, if you look at the order of things, you know, it's Father's Day. Don't beat your father and mother don't we don't have any kids here beating their father.

Do we okay in case you think that that's the right thing to do now, you know, it's wrong. Where's Anna Kate? Don't beat her father. Yeah, okay. That is forbidden and all those other things. But it's clear if you look at the order beating your father and mother's like the the fifth commandment.

Honor your father and mother and then the next one is you know, what it was a murder. And that's the sixth commandment and it's going through the list of commandments at least from the fourth to the ninth using the Ten Commandments is that is The law he's saying the law was made for people who it was made.

It is still as relevant for people who do these things the law he said is made for people who do not follow the law. Therefore the lawful use of the law is to make people aware. That they're not following it.

The use of the law is to open people's eyes to the reality that they have violated God's law and are therefore guilty. And so flee to God for salvation. That's the use of the law. It's not a job description.

Keep these things and then you're alright. It's a diagnosis. Are you keeping these things if not? You're not. Alright, and once you get that diagnosis comes the doctor's prescription. The diagnosis is sin.

The prescription is the gospel. Stay away from distractions stay in course to that goal remember the goal love from a pure heart a good conscience a sincere faith and You do that by staying with the gospel.

The lawful use of the law can get us on course to the gospel. What Paul calls in verse 11 the glorious gospel of the Blessed God? But only this glorious gospel can create the pure heart. The conscience that is right with God the living faith.

That will produce the love for God and for others. That is the goal. Only the gospel can do that so stay on course with that and Speaking of the gospel Paul tells Timothy beginning in verse 12. Look at how powerful it is to save.

Look at what is done the Lord has done through it. To me particularly the law rests on our strength to obey it. Because it's showing that we don't have strength. That's what it's there to show and and all will inevitably find that we don't have the strength.

Right if you use the law lawfully and understand my message this morning is not that you should stay at your striving. Stay at your religion. No stay at your exerting to keep your rule-keeping. Please do not take that away this morning.

There are times when you could just you should realistically admit that this is something I can't do and Just give up. There's times to give up and Trying to earn your way into God's good graces is one of those things.

Sooner you give up on that the better. Don't stay at that. The lawful use of the law. Using it for the purpose that it was the God gave it shows us. We can't do it, but Paul sees What the glorious gospel can do if Christ could change Paul?