Book of 1 Timothy - Ch. 1, v. 18

All right, well we jump right back into our study of 1st Timothy. We're still in chapter 1, but we are at the very end of that opening chapter at this point. And just to kind of briefly resurvey what we've talked about leading up to this point, Paul begins, of course, with his opening salutation and reminding Timothy about our hope that we have in Christ.

But then he immediately jumps into what Timothy is up against, at least one of the prime things that he's up against, that being the false teachers, the ones that are bringing in the fables, the myths, the legends, disputes over the law, all of these types of things.

And the Apostle Paul uses this as an example of one of the proper uses of the law in the New Testament, and gives his breakdown of all of that, and immediately follows it up with the first lengthy section that we have in this book, which we kind of just finished up the last time we were together about three or four weeks ago, which is Paul contrasting these false teachers with the true saving gospel, and what it is founded upon, that being God's grace, God's mercy.

And he uses himself as the example to show just how potent that really is. He goes all the way back into his sinful past as an insolent man, as a blasphemer, as someone who was persecuting the church itself, the very body of Christ.

And he says, I obtained mercy, even I obtained mercy, and was entrusted with the gospel of his grace myself. And he talks about the fact that he was counted worthy, and just how amazing all of these things are, with it flowing directly from God's mercy.

And he ends that first lengthier section in verse 17 with the doxology that we looked at the last time we were together. Now unto the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Paul’s Doxology and the Transition to Timothy’s Charge

So that's where we left off last time. And it brings us to a new section, but it's one that's more brief. And that is, again, the very ending of this first chapter, where Paul is about to give a charge to the young elder, Timothy.

And a very important one is that something that he wants him to remember going into the remainder of his ministry. And so kind of with picking up right where we left off in our review, the Apostle Paul, after completing what was most likely a pretty emotional part of this letter for him to write in the first place, going back into his past and using himself as the prime example of God's saving power.

He now turns back to the very practical business of ministry, which is where Timothy is going to be spending the rest of his life. And.

Not only that,.

Not only is ministry very practical in its own right, but it is especially so when you find yourself in the situation that Timothy was in, where he is not only having to raise up and exhort the congregation that he's put over and whatever believers he has to disciple, but to also refute the gainsayers, as Paul puts it in Titus, and know how to handle all of these false teachers that he just finished talking about in the opening portions of this letter.

Very practical stuff. He's about to give Timothy some encouragement to continue the good fight while living up to the very prophecies that were about him leading up to this moment, and we'll talk more about that in just a second.

But first look at verse 18, and just the first part of verse 19 again with me. The Apostle Paul here says, this is right after that doxology in verse 17, this charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them, excuse me, that thou, man, my cough is coming back now, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience.

And we'll stop right there for the time being.

We will.

Go verses 18 all the way through 20 when we get there, but for the moment stop there and let's just focus on Timothy for just a second and the fight that he has before him. The Apostle Paul had one specific concern that he constantly came back to in many of his letters, and that was.

The.

Need to finish the race well, for any Christian to finish the race well. Again, this was perhaps one of Paul's greatest motivations in his own life, in his own ministry, especially. He was constantly concerned with, again, this idea of finishing well, not just starting the race okay, but also finishing well, and frequently made reference to it with regard to his own fight that he was always battling.

Now we could go to a lot of different places in the New Testament to demonstrate this, this concern that Paul had, and that he kept going back to. You could go to Romans 7, you go to a number of passages.

I want to show you all one in particular here. If you want to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 9, and this is one that we are all familiar with, but I want you to think about it in light of what he is telling Timothy in our passage here.

So 1 Corinthians chapter 9, and we'll start verse 24. 1 Corinthians 9 24, and it says this. I'm just gonna go down through 27. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?

So run that ye may obtain, and every man that striveth for the mastery is tempering at all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I, not as one that beateth the air, but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Now in this particular portion, in fact in 1 Corinthians in general, the KJV can be a bit much sometimes, and it's like, all right, what exactly, what exactly is being said here? So let's read it one more time, and let me clarify a couple of phrases that he uses, because that while it sounds very lofty when you read it in the old English like this, it once more is is just down-to-earth and as practical as it possibly gets.

So look at it one more time. Let's go a little bit slower. Verse 24. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? In other words, everyone that is in a race, if you are entered into a race, everyone's running.

It might be a relatively large group of runners even, but only one gets the prize. So he begins with that rhetorical question using an analogy that everyone would have been familiar with. There's a lot of runners, but only one gets the prize, right?

You know this. And then he says, look at this, so run that you may obtain. In other words, put it in slightly more modern English here, he's saying run in such a way that you might actually win the race.

Just like the runners in a physical race for something as vain as, you know, perhaps an Olympic game or something like that, they're gonna put a lot of work, diligence, practice, time into being the one that wins that race.

So live your life like that. If they're gonna do it for the race, you might as well do it for the great race that we have before us, the one that all other meager races picture. So he says, so run that you may obtain.

Run in such a way that you might win. And then look at verse 25 again. And every man that striveth for the mastery, and this is a little bit awkward, but what it what he means is who competes in the games.

So the word mastery there is literally making reference to like an Olympic game. So every man who competes in the games is what Paul is literally saying, is temperate or has self-control. If you're going to enter a race in the Olympics, you are going to be an incredibly disciplined and incredibly self-controlled person.

And if you're not, you would be an absolute embarrassment, not only to yourself, but to your country. And Paul is literally using the analogy of the Greek Olympics here. We can know that in the language that he's using.

And so you enter the games, you know, you have the Olympics here in the 21st century. You're not only representing yourself and your you know, your stamina, your discipline, your training, but you're also representing your country.

If a man that competes in the games does so, he has self-control. So then look what he says after that. He has self-control or he's temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.

So you think about the discipline, you think about the training, you think about all of the sacrifice and the heartache and the physical pains that these guys go through and for what? It's for a corruptible crown.

It's for something that will turn to dust eventually just as they will. But Paul is saying here we are running our race for an incorruptible crown, something that is priceless, something that is valued far above any number of corruptible crowns that these very disciplined, very self-controlled runners over here.

Are after.

Every man who competes in the games has self-control in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. And then Paul puts it right back on himself and he says, let me show you what i'm talking about.

I therefore so run. I run my life. I run the race of my life trying to live up in an honorable fashion in the name of the Lord in such a way as they do over here for these corruptible vain things. I therefore so run not as uncertainly and what he means by that is I run in such a way as it's not aimless.

I have an aim. I can see the finish line. I'm not just running around. I'm running a very intentional race on a very intentional path just like the course that runners in the games would be running. I see the finish line.

This isn't aimless. I see it and i'm running straight for that. Therefore I run not uncertainly or without aim and then he says so I fight and the the greek word here is literally box. So boxing has been around since ancient times.

So Paul is now using a boxing analogy here and he says so I box but not as one that beateth the air. So in other words his just like a trained boxer has very intentional training habits and very intentional things that he is using for his practice for preparation.

That is how Paul approaches ministry. That is how Paul approaches his christian walk in general. He's not walking around beating the air. It's a very intentional training that he's going through and then he ends with verse 27 and this is the one that is just very explicit.

He says but I keep my body or in other words, I discipline. That word keep there you you could translate it. I discipline my body or even more literally I buffet my body.

I.

Discipline my body. I buffet my body. I bruise my body and bring it into subjection which literally means to make his body his slave. If you look at the greek term there, I make my body my slave. I bring it into subjection.

I have control over it just like these athletes do. This is an analogy everyone understands. Everyone admires the athlete that has the amount of discipline and self-control that they have in order to raise to the to the greatest heights of of athletic grandeur that we we see.

All you know, this is as far back in human history as you can go all the way to present day. We admire these men and women that again have the kind of discipline and self-control that it takes to to get to to the highest.

Stages.

Of athleticism. He says that is what I do in my ministry. That is what I do in my life and the implication is you should too. I keep my body under control. I keep my body disciplined. I bring it into subjection.

I make it my slave. I have total control over it and then listen how he finishes it. Lest if he doesn't do any of that, if he doesn't have the discipline, if he doesn't have the self-control, that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Or.

You could translate that disqualified. So we talk about you know, we look around and dad made reference to it last Sunday and I have made reference to it many times in recent Sunday school classes and that is the reality that we look around and I'm sure the internet doesn't make this any better.

I don't know if it's necessarily the worst it's ever been or if it's just it's so much easier to to see people sin these days, but ministers just dropping like flies across all denominations, across all traditions.

And just one becoming disqualified after the other. And not always a lot of them are for sexual related sins, but not all of them. Some of them are just really weird like gossip related stuff and you know, lies and things they were caught with and all of these various things.

And we look at and we think well, how pathetic are these guys? You know, how weak are these guys? And they are the ones of course that indulge their passions, their.

Their.

Sin habits and things like that while acting as an under shepherd for the flock, for the household of God. That is a terrible thing. That is an evil thing. But what is Paul saying here? He's saying listen, just because I'm an apostle doesn't mean that I get to approach life in a careless way.

It doesn't mean that I get to approach life in neutral or ever relax at any point. It's not like I have raised to such heights as a Christian that I don't have to worry about the battle against sin anymore.

He's saying I have to remain disciplined. I have to remain training my body and keeping it disciplined. I have to make sure my body is always my slave and not just at the beginning but all the way to the end.

I have to have self-control lest I myself should be disqualified. So if that is a concern of the apostle Paul, then it should be a concern of every person ever, every Christian ever, certainly those in a ministerial position.

And now you take this passage that we just.

Looked at.

And carry it over back to first Timothy for a second. So turn back to first Timothy chapter one and think about what we just read in light of.

These.

Exhortations, in fact actually stronger than that, these commands from Paul to Timothy. Look at verse 18 one more time. First Timothy 1 18. This charge I commit unto thee son Timothy according to the prophecies which went before on thee that thou by them mightest war a good warfare holding faith and good conscience.

Now it's a much more succinct little instruction there, little phrase rather, the instruction is not little but the the phrase itself is succinct compared to what Paul just demonstrated back in first Corinthians, but it's all the same thing.

It's the same fight. And so just as much as Paul had the concern for himself to finish well, he had that concern just as much for all of his disciples and certainly those he was about to impart that succession of leadership.

And so you look at other places and that's not the only one. We don't really have time but in in first Thessalonians chapter 2 the apostle Paul talks about.

Satan.

Basically putting up like a blockade against Paul and the other apostles as they were trying to go minister to certain saints in certain locations and things like that. And so once more Paul talks a lot about the spiritual battle that he was facing against his own flesh, against Satan himself.

He talks about him by name in a number of places and things of that sort. And so the apostle Paul he describes his trouble as an apostle as being a direct confrontation with Satan himself so often. And of course, we know that he is the chief source of all spiritual warfare that Christians go through.

And so now you get into this passage of Timothy and we see Timothy will be the one to experience this confrontation like he had never experienced before in his life. There's no doubt he may have up to this point.

He had been saved from his youth. But entering ministry puts a new and much larger target on your back. And so the apostle Paul is warming him up to this by giving him this command in its strongest form.

We'll look at it more closely in a minute to war a good warfare. And so in order to wage a successful campaign against the devil himself, what will it take? Diligence, perseverance, self-control, constant training.

You have the meager earthy analogy of the runner getting ready for the Olympic Games. Now amplify that 10x, 20x, 100x, and that is your spiritual race. That is the race you have before you as a Christian with a direct confrontation with Satan, with your flesh, and with the world.

And so Paul understood greatly that the send-off for a newly minted minister of the gospel like Timothy was, relatively speaking, or a newly appointed elder like Timothy was in this case perhaps about to be appointed bishop of Ephesus, or a pastor who's about to undertake a new congregation and be its shepherd.

Paul understood that the send-off at that point was only the beginning. That was by no means the, okay, you've made it, you're there, you're good to go, and I got, you know, now we're going to go focus on some new younger guys.

The personal battles that Timothy would face that anyone in a similar situation would face grows hotter as time goes on. They don't go away. And so here in these verses between verses 18 through 20, 20 is a different matter, but it's part of the same topic here.

This is the apostle Paul preparing Timothy mentally for this reality. The battles will grow hotter. They certainly won't cool down. And so Paul, using a very specific method of persuasion here, wants to grab Timothy's attention so vividly that he would have the same desire that Paul did back in that Corinthians passage we just read, where Paul's talking about himself, and he's talking about the discipline and the self-control that he so desires so that he may not be disqualified.

He wanted to finish well. It was one of his greatest concerns. Paul is now persuading Timothy using a particular method. We'll look at just a second. But he is doing this. He's trying to persuade him.

Why? So that Timothy doesn't ever get to the point where he's lax on this battle before him. So that he is thinking about it as intently as the apostle Paul always did, to keep his body his own slave so as not to become disqualified himself.

Paul did not want Timothy. He didn't want that for Timothy just as much as he didn't want it for himself. Now in order, obviously, Paul is using a very physical analogy in that passage. In order to keep the biological frame of a person under control, it requires that the spiritual core, the spiritual core of a person is constantly getting stronger first.

You can't get there spiritually by focusing on the physical first. And Paul tells us as much elsewhere. He says working out's great, but compared to the spiritual life, I'm paraphrasing so badly, but compared to the spiritual life, it's nothing.

And he wasn't saying you shouldn't work out. He wasn't saying that physical education and things like that are a bad thing. He's just saying they are meager compared to the spiritual. You have to put the spiritual first and then go from there.

And so in order to protect yourself from biological temptations, things that could affect you physically, and things of that sort, it has to start first with the spiritual core of a person getting stronger.

He says just at the opening of verse 19, they're holding faith and a good conscience. So this is where it starts. It begins with our faith. It begins with a good conscience. It begins with the internal and it moves its way out, which of course plays off of Jesus' teaching so much.

And so doing this by setting him up for success and Timothy heeding the instructions from Paul here, by doing this, it'll actually allow Timothy to do what? It's a really interesting thing. To fulfill the prophecies that were made about him in this role in verse 18 there.

To fulfill the prophecies that were made about Timothy in his role as a minister. And so this brings us to that method of persuasion that I referenced a minute ago that Paul is now using. What does Paul do here to get Timothy fired up?

What does he do to get him to stay focused on that finish line that's not aimless just like the apostle Paul was talking about in Corinthians? What did he do that or how did he do that? He does it by reminding Timothy of his calling and the fact that he was set apart for this good work and therefore he shouldn't mess it up.

Because the source of this calling was far greater than Timothy the man. This isn't just Timothy getting to decide, you know, one day I'm gonna be diligent. I'm gonna do the best job I can as a minister.

But the next day I don't really feel like it anymore. I want to move on to a new pursuit. You know, this is kind of old now. I want something new. I want something fresh. He doesn't get to do that. He literally does not have that option.

And so Paul is just trying to ground Timothy here and simply tell him, look, you were prophesied about in this position as a leader of the early church. You are going to fulfill it and I want you to think about this reality as your motivation for staying on the straight and narrow, for staying disciplined, for continuing to have that self-control.

But now there's there's a thing here and and that is that this isn't just a matter of passing a single hard test. This isn't a matter of, okay, once more Timothy has now made it to the threshold of being a minister, of being an elder, of being a bishop, a successor of Paul himself as a minister of the gospel.

It's not a matter of reaching that threshold and saying, okay, I did it. I've crossed it. I can go on and I'm repeating myself at this point. We talked about this just a moment ago. But it's important for us to keep in our view here.

It's not just a matter of passing a hard test and then kind of taking a sigh of relief that you've successfully completed the challenge and meandering around from that point forward. The words that Paul uses here in verse 18, specifically in verse 18, it kind of carries into verse 19 as well.

But the words that he uses indicate something on a far larger scale than a simple here's one test. I've passed it. I can move on. The scale is way larger than a test, certainly a single test. And let's look at that a little more closely here.

So back in the verse 18, at the very end of it, he says that thou by them mightest war a good warfare. I want to look at that first. We'll go back to the prophecy thing in just a second because it's interesting.

But mightest war, that's when Paul says that thou mightest war, that's all one greek word and it comes from the greek word strataio, which is where we get our word strategy from. And basically what it means literally, the greek term literally means to strategically lead a military expedition.

Now what's interesting about it, he's going to use another greek term in a second, which is from the same root, but he's emphasizing two different things by using two different words. And the first word he uses here, he's emphasizing the campaign, but, or he's talking about the campaign, but the thing he's emphasizing is Timothy's leadership within the campaign.

And of course that's not by accident. Timothy was doing just that. He was entering into a leadership position. So in other words, the word that Paul uses here is he's telling Timothy you are to lead soldiers into war.

And like I said, the scale is much larger than a simple test. This is warfare, not even a single battle, but a war comprised of many battles, an expedition, a military campaign. Thou mightest war, that's what he's talking about there, leading a military campaign.

And then what does he say? That thou mightest war a good warfare. The word good there is the greek term for noble. So he wants Timothy to go into this war a noble man and to conduct himself in a noble manner.

It means noble or admirable. So to conduct himself admirably in the eyes of God, but certainly in the eyes of his fellow men as well, those that he is leading. And so you're going to lead a military campaign, but you need to do so in noble fashion.

And he finishes it, the full sentence is thou mightest war a good warfare. And that last word warfare there is a slightly different greek term, strataea, which makes more specific, it emphasizes the campaign itself.

So the first strataea, he's emphasizing the leadership within the campaign, and then strataea at the very end of it here, he's emphasizing just the campaign itself. So you're going to go in there and lead a noble effort against the enemy, a large-scale military campaign.

And so what is it that you think Paul is emphasizing in his choice of words here? Why is he using this analogy? Why is he being this explicit with Timothy? Is it just that he's trying to, you know, kind of shake him up a little bit?

Or is there more of a literal sense here? What do you think dad? I saw you raise your hand.

Well, what that last word seems to me is telling me it's a long drawn-out affair. It's not something you know, you've got to be prepared for a long drawn-out affair. You may not get a lot of rest from it.

You may not, you know, what do they call it in the military where you just have a couple days? Some leave? Yeah, leave. You may not get a lot of that. And so you got to really be prepared.

That's exactly right. He's using this explicit analogy in this very specific wording here to put that picture in Timothy's mind early so that he doesn't get burned out. Because if you go into a war campaign, a military campaign with the idea that we're going to just knock him dead in the first battle and be done with this.

Thing.

And then that doesn't happen, you get so.

So utterly.

Burned out and the morale goes to zero and all of these things that you're useless at that point for the remaining battles at hand. But if you go into it understanding this is a strategic campaign with a military war comprised of many individual battles and you have to remain diligent, you have to remain self-controlled to fight each and every one of those to reach your desired goal, which is heaven itself.

If you know that going into it, then you will have the fortitude to take those battles one by one rather than the burnout that would otherwise come and that has come by the way for a great many people and we could look at some of those in the scriptures themselves.

Yeah, Robert?

So one of the things, not only just heaven itself, I would say that there are certain victories on earth that we get the trophies where we're going to lay crowns and trophies at Jesus's feet. Oh, of course.

We want to collect a bountiful amount of them. One would be great, two is great, but collect as many of them.

As possible.

Because they're going to him. It would like be as much of the victorious person to collect a big amount all the crowns set at the feet of Jesus. So not only an achievement to us, but actually to praise him.

Let's go back to that original analogy. We started with the first Corinthians. Know ye not that they which run a race all run, but one gets the prize. And then after that he says, so run that way so that you may obtain it.

Run in such a way that you might win and you may not have been in here yet, Robert, when we looked at that. But run your Christian walk in such a way that you might actually win something. You know, don't think about it as just like, well, we're all going to heaven.

It'll be kind of, you know, just well, no, you know, don't picture it as just this bliss that we all enter equally. If that were true, then you wouldn't have some of the amazing some of the amazing proclamations made about the apostles and not just the apostles, but some elders and not just some elders, but those that were beheaded.

There are some that run the way the race better than others. And so run your race in such a way that you might actually win something. Yeah, dad.

I like Robert's point because I know you agree with it because right that train way. We spent 20 years trying to convince christians. I mean, I think we did convince the ones that were listening.

That.

It seems that christian pastors Always looking at your words or all this heavenly spirit. Oh sure. So it was but also they had the You know the birthright. They also had the spiritual. It was both. Right, so we run the race.

And I was thinking about while robert was talking, okay, he's talking about like the.

Dude here.

We gain rewards. And then what you said. Heaven well, it is in heaven. So it ties everything together as one reality rather than two different. So many people think well I'll have eternal life when I get to heaven.

Well, you're living it now. It started when he got born again, and it goes out the other end for eternity. You're living it now.

And I like the way you both you guys kind of well, there will be a day when all of this does literally converge. Because heaven essentially is where the glory of god is. And when jesus comes for the second time, where does he bring heaven?

He brings it to earth. And uh, and of course earth itself will be redeemed someday and so yeah, there's there's certainly no, uh, You know, there's often that false dichotomy of spiritual and physical that you're talking about which is functionally a gnostic thing.

Even though people don't realize it and that's to be avoided. No doubt. Uh, but yes, uh you again you have the ultimate finish line finishing. Well, and that is what seeing jesus's face for the first time in heaven.

Well done thy good and faithful servant that sort of thing and so going back to the original question dad got it exactly right. Paul is obviously using a very explicit analogy here this military this militaristic large-scale campaign to represent something.

And that something is timothy's personal christian walk. But also in light of his calling as well. So all of us have our own campaigns. Uh. There's this obviously we're all marching together. We're all part of one army, but we're we're also individual soldiers as well.

Well for timothy here. He was one of the leaders Of this military campaign and so he had a you know, a very particular role in all of this and so Paul is using this analogy to represent something. And in using this particular analogy what he's doing is he is pressing upon timothy's mind.

That performing well in a single battle to dad's point isn't going to cut it. He has to be ready for the whole campaign. The entire thing not just the first or even the second third battles, but all of them.

It's going to be long. It's going to be arduous. And it is life and death that we're talking about here. Now warfare and i'll have to end with this thought probably because we're running low on time but warfare.

In general.

Is one of the great testaments to the fall of man? The fact that war exists. It's a testament to sin entering the world. And because war is the direct result of sin the large majority of wars throughout human history have been fought on Unjustifiable terms.

I think we would all agree with that. You know, there are there are corrupt leaders that will wage war against each other and will send innocent Men young men to fight those wars on their behalf for the consolidation of power or whatever it may be.

The large majority of wars throughout human history have been on unjustifiable terms. And in ways that were far from noble or as far from noble as you could get. What is paul telling timothy to do fight a noble war?

He's he's saying fight a just war. And as christians Thinking biblically about war can sometimes be a complicated thing because not all patriotic wars Are necessarily biblical wars? And I said I use the term patriotic because we know that it can be very easy in the moment in the heat Of the battles raging wherever they may be for us to get behind it, you know, vietnam is a great example of that.

Uh our involvement in a number of wars where in hindsight, it's like what were we doing? But in the moment, there's kind of a You know patriotic camaraderie about it. Of course the the actual men boots on the ground.

Are patriots they are warriors. They are heroes and all these types of things, but were the were the the initial Reasons justifiable that's where it gets really interesting sometimes when you start using the biblical grid.

To analyze all of the various wars throughout human history. But even though and this is important. Even though all wars without exception all wars are a result of sin. There are in fact occasions for a just war.

Does that make sense? If sin hadn't entered the cosmos there would never be war there would never be rebellion. And if it had been for satan's iniquity that was found in him, there wouldn't have even been a great war in heaven.

So it's because of iniquity. It is because of sin that war is ever.

Uh.

Ever a thing. And so all wars without exception are a result of sin. But there are occasions where there is in fact a just war. And that is true in the physical realm. But I use that just as the springboard to say that it is most true in the spiritual realm.

So when paul. You know what paul is talking about here. Is noble warfare defined? We have to fight the war against satan against the flesh against the world because of sin. If it weren't for sin, we wouldn't have to fight any of these battles.