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[a] from
God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and 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.
Many of you are familiar with the 20th century preacher Martin Lloyd Jones. Next to Billy Graham, he might have been the most influential preacher of that
century. His sermons are still in circulation today and he continues to be an influence through them. He was a revered man and those who knew him were in awe of his knowledge and godliness.
Lloyd-Jones hand-picked the successor to Westminster Chapel after Jones retired but the new minister began almost immediately moving the church away from the theological foundation
that Jones had spent almost 30 years laying. We wonder how such a thing could happen, how could a congregation so used to the kind of faithful teaching, many times a week for all those years…I say how could they substitute it for something so different, shallow
and vapid and do so…so quickly?
The story told in First Timothy is in many ways, the story of the Christian church in the world, the story of rise and fall, of the embrace of the faith, and then sooner than
you might have thought possible, the betrayal of that same faith. The salvation by God’s grace through the life and work of Jesus Christ and the truth of what constitutes a godly life, is the lifeblood of the church, and when that is lost, whether by a slow
bleed or a sudden and catastrophic injury, the church suffers greatly if it does not die altogether. (Adapted from RSR)
Paul had sent Timothy to Thessalonica (I Thess 3:2) to strengthen and encourage the faith of the Xns there. But it seems Timothy was already in Ephesus when it becomes clear
that the church in Ephesus was at a critical point because of false teaching by people who were more interested in being someone, than they were in humble submission to the truth of the gospel.
So, Paul
urges, verse 3, Timothy to stay there for the specific purpose to command the false teachers, to stop what they are doing and to make sure the saints have the unmitigated truth taught to them…to stand against anything false coming into the church and
to teach the brothers and sisters that they were obligated to defend both the truth and the one preaching it. The word that Paul uses,
to urge, is a strong and aggressive term but also has a personal almost warm undertone. It is the Greek word parakaleo…similar to the word paraclete which we understand as helper, a moniker given even to the Holy Spirit who is called the paraclete.
This implies Timothy’s relationship with these people. He is their pastor…he knows them…He lives life with them. He has proven that he is invested in this group of people and
because of that, they would do well to put down their defenses, stop with the novel fads of these other teachers and heed what their pastor was saying.
Paul says the goal of this,
the telos, that is the word used, the end of all of this, is love. This IS love…personally correct and admonish and point back to the truth those who are in error…warn, encourage and make clear what the truth in Christ is. These people have wandered, Paul says in verse 6. So, this is the most loving thing a pastor
could do!
A pause here is called for. As a minister I know this very well, but you too know it, we all know it. Often when you humbly correct or admonish someone…trying to tell them that
the direction of their actions or speech is not unto godliness…that they are going to do harm to their own spiritual lives…you are loving them…but that is not the way they take it…in fact, often, just the opposite.
I have spoken with many people who have that experience: They go to someone, and they speak the truth in this manner and everything goes sideways. It is met with defensiveness…how
dare you…and so the conclusion is: “Well, I am never doing that again.”
What…you are not going to love another enough to care for their soul? You are never going to defend the Lord? You are never going to stand up for the truth? I know this is hard,
but according to Paul, that is what love is willing to risk. Our responsibility is to speak the truth in love…we are not responsible for their reaction to it.
Apparently, the folks in our text have a highly inflated view of themselves and think they should be the ones teaching. They are smarter than Timothy…they know better than anyone
else. Paul says in verse 7, that they don’t know what they are talking about…but that is precisely what makes them so dangerous:
They don’t know, that they don’t know.
When ignorance is
not combined with humility; when ignorance is combined instead with pride and arrogance, a desire to be up front, an unteachable spirit, an unwillingness to listen, it becomes an enemy to the truth and a danger to the people of God. There are
many who think to be teachers, but who, in reality, need to be taught…need the foundation set more firmly in what God has revealed in Jesus Christ, before they ever think to instruct others.
One of the greatest kindnesses that Chuck Colson’s friends did for him when he was released from prison, now a Christian, was to take him away…out of the public eye for a time
to be taught…instructed in the ways of our faith before he became the wonderful teacher and herald of the gospel that he was.
To be continued…
Prayer:
Father, I confess that I often live my life rejected the humility that Jesus so beautifully and powerfully exhibited. Forgive me. Give me strength to fight the battle that is before me with the weapons that You have provided: love, mercy, kindness, forgiveness
and a willingness to give up life that I might find it. This is pleasing to you and it is what I want, in Jesus name, Amen.
Hymn: Ride On, Ride On in Majesty