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Amen. How many of you truly believe
that He has done great things? I am thankful for that.
And as we sang a moment ago, it is our responsibility and our
duty to give Him the glory in that.
Through that, so we acknowledge once again that our God is a
great God who does great things. Don't forget that no matter
where you are in life, know that He has done and will do and is
doing great things, even that you don't even yet fully
understand or know. Get your Bibles if you would
turn to First Timothy as we continue to look at the Pastoral
Epistles, and we began a few weeks ago with this.
First of the Pastoral Epistles being the 1st letter to Timothy.
We are uncovering in this series Biblical ministers and Biblical
ministry. We'll be looking today at verses
18 through 20. As you know, if you were here
last week in our lesson, Paul gave us an example in his life
of the traits of an effective Christian leader.
I, I pray that we were challenged by that.
I can speak for myself. I was challenged by that, that I
want to be that kind of leader, whether I'm leading my my
family, whether I'm leading this church, wherever I find myself
being used for the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I want
to be that kind of leader and minister.
And so this week, that effective leader Paul is going to actually
in his leadership role as an apostle to the church, he's
going to actually give a charge to who we know he's already
referred to as his son, his true son, Timothy, the pastor here at
Ephesus who would have received this letter.
He's going to give Timothy this charge or this command so that
he will properly fulfill his role as a minister and as a
pastor there in the church. Located in Ephesus.
So in doing that, Timothy is going to receive those
instructions. But those instructions, though
they are uniquely and specifically given to Timothy in
the time that this was written, they're also instructions for
all of us who are ministers. Now, before we go any further, I
want to ask this question. How many of you here today would
say I am a minister? If you are in Christ, you are a
minister. That doesn't mean that you're a
pastor of a church, that you're an evangelist, that you're a
missionary, but it doesn't mean that you are a minister.
That doesn't mean that you're ever going to stand in the
pulpit and preach a sermon, but all of us who are in Christ have
been given the ministry of Christ, which is the ministry of
reconciliation. Therefore, we are all ministers
and we are to shine the light of the gospel and everything that
we do. Perhaps your ministry is the
fact that you are a father who is leading and who is guiding
his family. Perhaps you're a husband.
Maybe you don't have children in the equation yet, but you are to
minister to your wife and your wife in return is to minister
unto her own husband. And we know this in the home.
We are to minister to our children.
Is that not so? Of course, we know that to be
so. So all of us to some degree,
whether it's in our homes or whether it's in this church.
As you lead in ministry, perhaps you were a leader in one of the
ministries that we have here at Key Life, or you are one of the
people who participate in one of those ministries.
At the end of the day, we are all ministers.
And so just because Paul is addressing Timothy, who was
ministering here in Ephesus as a pastor, giving him this charge
in doing the ministry that is before him and fulfilling that
which he is called to do, doesn't mean that you can just
turn your ears off. And to think that this is not
something for you. This is something for all of us.
As we will see. We've all been given a ministry
and we are too carefully guard that ministry.
John Flavel. Said this, he said they that
watch for souls must watch for their own souls.
Or else they may destroy themselves while they save
others. So what's going to happen in
this letter today? Paul is going to instruct
Timothy. Yes, you are going to take care
of other people's souls and ministering to them, but also
take care of yourself. Paul is going to charge Timothy
to take care of that ministry to which he has been entrusted to
do to guard himself. And though this charge is
specifically given to this young.
Pastor there in Ephesus, we're going to see it's given to all
of us as well who will and who desire to walk in obedience and
ministering the gospel in every area of our life that we have
opportunity to minister the gospel.
So first Timothy chapter 1, the 18th verse, Paul says this
Timothy, my son, he uses that term of endearment again and I
love that. Can you imagine when Timothy
read this, he's already heard my true son, and then he hears
again my son. I can think back into my life.
One of the special mentors that God placed in my life, Doctor
Bobby Clark. I love when he would call me son
or he would call me boy. He called me boy a lot, and he
would say son or boy, let me tell you something about this,
or boy, let me tell you something about that.
It was always good that he would use that term of endearment for
me and toward me. It meant something.
That meant that he was teaching me something that he knew was
important that he needed to pass on to that young man who was
coming up underneath his teaching.
And Paul here writing this to Timothy, referring to him again
as. His son, he said.
Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the
prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you
may fight the good fight, holding on to the faith, to
faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these.
And so have shipwrecked to their faith.
Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed
over to Satan to be taught not to blasphemy.
Let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we
come to you. We thank you for the
instructions that you give us in your word.
We thank you for this charge to those of us who are in Christ
who find ourselves obediently ministering to others.
Maybe we are ministering to our families or our homes.
Maybe we're ministering in pastoral capacity in the church.
But God, I pray that we would all hear these words and that we
would take them seriously this morning, that we would see the
warnings and we would see the encouragement and we would see
the direction, that we would utilize it in our lives as you
have intended it to be utilized. God, I pray for the soul who's
here today who does not know Christ.
Lord, make them fully aware that they cannot truly minister to
anyone in the name of Christ because they don't yet know
Christ, or they can't minister to their families.
They can't minister to their husbands, to their wives, to
their children. They can't minister to their
coworkers. They can't minister in the
church because they are not a part of your church.
God, I pray that you allow them to see that that sin has
separated them from a holy God, that reconciliation must occur,
and that reconciliation only comes through Jesus Christ and
surrendering to Him as Lord and Savior, repenting of their sin
and their unbelief in turning to Christ.
And today, Lord, that you would grace them with your mercy, that
they would truly see their need for Christ, that you would
fulfill that need and revealing yourself to them, drawing them
out of darkness and ushering them into Your marvelous light
for salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life.
And Lord, we'll be careful to give you all the glory for it.
And we pray and we ask these things in Christ's name, Amen.
So as we continue in our journey in the Pastoral Epistles, I want
us to look at this charge that Paul.
Gives to young Timothy, he says there in verse 18, if you'll
look back with me, he says, Timothy my son, I give you this
instruction now my translation says instructions.
Some of your translations will say charge, some of them will
say command. I think charge or command, and
the original language is probably the more accurate
translation. He is giving him a charge, a
command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you.
He. Says so that by.
Following them, you may fight the good fight.
We could condense our title for the first point.
Our title for the first point is this.
Fulfill your Commission. Paul is telling Timothy here to
fulfill your Commission, to fulfill that which you have been
called to do. We could shorten it to simply
this, the work, the work that God has called him to do.
Paul wants him to focus on that, and he does it in such a way as
to call something to Timothy's remembrance.
He says look back on that time where you were called, where
prophecies were once made about you, where God revealed through
his word as through a prophet in the church, where he revealed
his specific will for your life by that word.
So what he's telling Timothy in essence to do is to obey God's
calling, to obey God's calling on his life.
First, he begins with fulfilling your duty according to God's
will. He's saying, Timothy, remember
that this is God's will. That's why I'm charging you with
these instructions and these commands.
I am reminding you that God has revealed His will for your life.
And His will for your life is that you surrender your entire
existence to gospel ministry, that you fulfill the duty that
you've been given according to God's will.
So in order to fulfill your Commission, you must obey God's
calling. I want you to really understand
when I use the word charge and where Paul uses the word charge
here. This is a military expression.
This is a military order. So I want for you to in your
mind to think that Paul is using military language or military
imagery. And so we have this Paul
receiving orders from the King of Kings as he spent time
personally with the Lord Jesus and learning how to be a
faithful. I can definitely say this, there
is no greater teacher than the Lord Jesus Christ about being a
faithful minister. And Paul is now passing this
along to Timothy. He's saying what I have received
from the King, I as a general, an apostle in the faith to my
son. Maybe Timothy serves here as a
Lieutenant or a Sergeant, and he's receiving this message,
this charge from Paul. So Paul speaks in a military
sense and using military language, and he says, I give
you this charge, this order, this command.
So that seems kind of harsh, but it's not abnormal for Paul to
speak in those terms, is it? We see in his life, in his
ministry, he uses this military imagery and military verbiage
often in the things that he wrote.
In fact, in Second Timothy we see this Second Timothy chapter
2 verse 3 where he says this join me in suffering like a good
soldier of Christ Jesus. Paul then reminding Timothy that
you're a soldier and you are in war and sometimes in war and in
battle we have to endure and we even have to suffer.
And he says do this like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
Now, I know in our sissified culture and society where we
have all but taken the warrior instincts out of men, this is
foreign to us. But I can remember not back too
long ago, even in my lifetime, we used to stand in church and
we would herald a song, Onward Christian soldiers, onward,
fighting, marching as to war with the cross of Jesus going on
before you guys, some of you remember that hymn that we used
to sing Onward, Christian soldiers marching as to war.
Now we don't even talk in these terms because again, we have
sissified things in such a way so that we don't have warriors
being raised up in the church as warriors for the gospel.
Paul using military language here to remind Timothy, Timothy,
you were called to be a warrior, a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
As we looked in our scripture reading this morning in
Ephesians chapter 6, we also see Paul using again military terms,
military imagery. He tells him that you're in a
fight and you were fighting against principalities and
powers and forces of darkness. You were fighting against evil
things in the unseen realm. He says, therefore put on the
full armor of God. And then Paul takes the care and
the time and I'm so thankful that he does to to actually go
through and to explain each specific element of a Roman
soldiers armor so that we would understand the importance and
that we are in a fight. And to go into that fight I'll
equipped is to make a fatal error.
So I'm thankful that Paul used such terms in Ephesians chapter
6 when he describes for us the battle that we're in and the
armor that we must put on. And then in Thessalonians we see
this in chapter 5 and verse 8. Paul says, but since we belong
to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a
breastplate in the hope of salvation as a helmet.
Again, he's going back and he's grabbing military terminology
and he's using imagery from war, and he's doing this to show the
seriousness of the fight that we as believers are really in.
Now, I want you to know this is not simply good advice.
This is not Paul just giving good advice to a fellow
minister. This is Paul revealing the
serious nature of the war that the gospel ministers are really
in and that they must endure. He is simply saying to Timothy,
these are orders that I have received.
I am passing on these orders to you.
These orders have come from the top.
This is the word of God to you. A minister there in Ephesus, he
uses that military charge to get his attention.
He said, I want you to remember and to obey God's calling in
your life. Paul reminding him of this.
Why is that important? Because with.
All callings come duty and responsibility.
Have you noticed that in the church as of late, lots of
people want to claim to be called, but they don't want the
duty and the responsibility of those who are called the gospel
ministry. They want the title and they
want people to say, oh, you're a minister.
Oh, you're a pastor. Oh, you're an elder.
But when it comes down to actually taking upon themselves
the duty and the responsibility for that role, and they shunned
that. And it shouldn't be.
So that's what Paul is doing. He's reminding Timothy that he
has a calling from God and that God has a will and a plan in
this calling. And then with that comes duty
and responsibility to fulfill that calling or that Commission.
And how does he teach him to do this?
By obeying what God has called him to do.
And how does he know what that is?
Well, he says that there have been people who spoke prophecy
over him, and so God is simply through Paul telling Timothy
that you are to fulfill your duty according to God's will
that was revealed to you when the prophets spoke about.
You when they laid their hands upon you.
He wants Timothy to fulfill his duty according to God's will,
but not only according to God's will, also according to God's
Word. That's why he goes back and he
references the prophecies once made about him.
When we see prophecy in this sense in the New Testament,
please understand this. Before the canonization of
Scripture, there was in the New Testament church the office of
the prophet who were the prophets, the apostles, and then
we know later the pastors and the teachers, the evangelists
also in that mix. But we see here, here he is
referring to the fact that there were those who laid their hands
upon Timothy and they spoke a word from God over Timothy.
We don't fully understand exactly how or when this
occurred. There are many scholars who say
it possibly could have been Silas because he was a companion
of Paul. Silas is referred to as a
prophet there in the New Testament.
It could have been, but it doesn't necessarily have to be.
But we know this. There was a time where the Word
of God was spoken over Timothy and they were there, the leaders
of the church, to witness this and to confirm that these things
were true. Paul is reminding him of this
fact. This prophecy more than likely
took place. At his commissioning or his
ordination. So there would have been a
commissioning or an ordination for Timothy.
We have record of that in Scripture.
In fact, First Timothy chapter 4, verse 14.
It says this, do not neglect your gift which was given to you
through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on
you. That's a picture if you would,
this ordination service where the leaders in the church would
have laid their hands upon Timothy and the laying on of
hands was to signify that they gave their approval, that he had
proven himself and he had proven himself faithful to be a gospel
minister and they were sending him out.
And then a prophet, because we didn't have the completed
canonized word of God, would have spoken truth that God
revealed to him in that moment concerning that specific
individual. Now, let me just tell you this.
The pages of Scripture are no less and no more the Word of God
than what that prophet spoke over him on that day of his
commissioning. And so a prophet or maybe even
multiple prophets, because we can see that there were multiple
prophecies, they would have revealed exactly what it was
that Timothy was called to do and how he was to do it.
And Paul is simply saying this Remember back to your
ordination. Remember back to your
commissioning. Service what was?
Spoken to you about the role that you would play in the
gospel ministry in your lifetime.
Second Timothy chapter one, verse 6, Paul obviously
participating there. He says in verse 6, for this
reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is
in you through the laying on of my hands.
He's saying this when I was there at your ordination, it was
revealed that God was specifically gifting you as he
specifically gifted me as the apostle to the Gentiles.
He is now gifted you as a pastor to his churches so that you will
be an effective minister. And so this prophecy that he's
Speaking of in this 18th verse is more than likely talking
about that commissioning or that ordination service.
And Paul is recounting this so that Timothy will remember it,
so that he will regard it, so that he will cherish what was
spoken of by the word of God. Because when a true prophet
speaks, he speaks. The word of God.
So there, that would have happened in the life of Timothy.
Now we know this. We have Scripture, and Scripture
in the writings that we're reading today, give us clear
instructions on what the man of God who is ministering to the
church is supposed to do. We're reading the pastoral
Epistles now. Please know, in the days of all
these things were not yet finished.
They were not yet, as we would call it, canonized and included
in Scripture. But now they are.
And so because they are, we don't have to have some
prophetic word to know what our role as ministers is.
We see that we can look at the role that he is defining for
Timothy here. We can draw the conclusion that
that role is the same for. All who would be pastors in the
Church of Christ. But he wants them to remember
that so that he can obey God's calling.
Sometimes it's good for pastors. I can speak for myself, to go
back and to remember that day where God called you to gospel
ministry and to know that this is not some invention of your
own mind. This is not something that you
would have desired to do on your own.
But you know that you were commissioned specifically by God
to do this task. I can tell you 100% that if God
wouldn't have confirmed over and over and over to me that I am
called to do this, I would have quit a long time ago.
I tell people this quite frequently.
I know that God called me because every time I've thrown
in the towel, He always throws it back.
And I'm encouraged by his Spirit to get back into the arena and
continue on with the work that He has called me to do to
fulfill His Commission for my life, obeying God's calling.
But not only is he instructing Timothy to obey God's calling on
his life and fulfilling his Commission.
He's also telling him to offer yourself to God's campaign.
I want, I want you to see what he means here when he says what
he says again, using those terms, warlike imagery and
fighting. He says, I give you this
instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you
so that by following them you may fight the good fight.
He's encouraging Timothy to keep offering yourself to God's
campaign, to keep fighting the good fight.
Let me just explain to all of you who are here who have said
yes, we're ministers. You're a minister in your home,
you're a minister in this church, you're a minister in
your workplace. I hope you are ministers in all
of those areas. Let me remind you about the
campaign that we are to. Offer ourselves to it is the
good fight of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me make it ever so clear that this is a lasting campaign.
It will not end until the King of Kings and Lord of Lords comes
and finally brings peace. This is the good fight.
It's a war. It's not simply a small,
insignificant, fleeting battle. We don't fight a little battle
and then we're done and then we go home and we enjoy the spoils
of that battle. No, we fight an entire lifetime
and we spend our entire life ministering for the gospel and
the Lord who gave himself for us.
And then and only then when that is over, we go before him.
And with him we enjoy eternal reward because we fought the
good fight faithfully. And so please, so that you can
understand this, know what Paul is not saying.
He's not saying Timothy this is a Sprint.
He's saying, Timothy, this is a marathon and I want you to fight
the good fight. I have seen many people claim to
be called to ministry to Sprint out of the gate very quickly,
the blast out of the blocks like they're they were on fire in
their rear end, only to face the first obstacle in their ministry
and to turn back and to throw into the towel.
Never ever participate in ministry again.
They were sprinters. Paul is not calling Timothy to
be a sprinter. He's saying Timothy, this is a
marathon. The good fight is a lasting
fight and it will last an entire lifetime.
Please know that many people forget that in ministry, don't
they? They fight momentarily until.
If things get rough till they have to endure, persevere
through something. No church.
Please understand we are to offer ourselves to God's
campaign completely. This is a war that will last our
entire lifetime. Paul here thinking about his son
in the ministry and in the faith, and he wants him to
finish well. He doesn't want him just to
blast out of the blocks and have a good start.
I've seen lots of people at the Olympics blow out of the blocks
and have a great start, only to lose because they didn't.
Endure to the end, he's saying. I don't want that.
You know. That was Paul's objective in his
life too. That's why at the end of his
life he could say this. He says in Second Timothy
chapter 4 verse seven, he says I have fought the good fight.
At the end of his race, I've fought the good fight, I've
finished the race, I've kept the faith and he goes on, he says.
And now because of this, there is a reward in heaven that's
kept for me. I'm going to receive that
Stefano's crown, that Victor's crown, because I truly endured
and fought in God's campaign my entire life.
This campaign requires that a lifelong commitment to ministry
to devote every ounce of energy that you have to the Lord Jesus
Christ for every single second that you were blessed with on
this earth. I have in my lifetime witnessed
many who claim to be called by God only to quit and then never
return. I simply say this to them.
You were never called because when God calls us, he calls us
to fight the good fight all of our days.
It's a lasting campaign, acquiring A lasting commitment.
Paul had witnessed those in his lifetime that had walked away as
well. In fact, he names them by name
here in this text. He names Hymenaeus and
Alexander, and he's going to call them by name.
For all you people who say, well, you shouldn't call false
teachers and false prophets and heretics by name, well, you take
that up with the apostle Paul. He wanted people to know who
they really were. He doesn't mean any ill will
toward them. He grieves for their souls.
He hates it. He he's once served the Lord
alongside of them, potentially even leading some of them to
Christ. Now he has to say that they've
defected from the faith. That's the whole reason for this
charge. He doesn't want Timothy to
defect from the faith. So he's reminding him to obey
God's calling and to offer yourself to God's campaign
lifetime. Not being a quitter, not
retreating, not. Surrendering, not retiring, and
you're in this for the long haul.
As as many days as God has you on this earth, you are in the
ministry. Count the cost, know what was
said about you, and then live it.
Unlike Hymenaeus and Alexander, unlike by leaders who we see in
Second Timothy chapter 2 verses 17 and 18.
It says he's wandered away from the truth.
He had apostatized once serving the Lord, professing faith in
Christ. What about Dimas, Paul's friend,
Second Timothy, chapter 4, verse 10, where Paul says for Demas,
because he loved this world, has deserted me, he's deserted me
and he's gone to Thessalonica, he's left me, he's left me
stranded, he's left the ministry, and it's all because
he loved this. World.
How don't you know that? Grieve the heart of Paul, those
close associates. When you look at the life of
Demas, every time you see him prior to this, he's serving
alongside of the Apostle Paul. Now he's abandoning the faith
because he loves the world. Is that not what scripture says?
If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you.
Paul had to realize that this demons who had been there
serving alongside of him was no different than Judas who served
alongside of Jesus in the 11. He was never truly saved, but
all he had was a love for the world, not a true love for God.
He speaks then of a jealous and homogeneous and there in second
Timothy chapter one. It says about these two that
with them, many others in Asia deserted Paul and the gospel
there in chapter 2, second Timothy, chapter one, verse 15.
So Paul knew what it was like to have his companions who would
desert him and ultimately desert Christ and the gospel.
Paul didn't want this for Timothy.
He wanted Timothy to fulfill his calling, never forgetting that
he was called by God and it was the will of God as revealed by
the Word of God through the prophets that he was to do that
which God had commissioned him to do.
Never quitting, never wondering, never retiring, ever becoming
lazy and apathetic, but enduring in the good fight all of his
days. So he first tells him there in
verse 18, fulfill your Commission.
Again, if we want to make it short, let's just call it the
work. Here's the work.
You fulfill your Commission, the work that has been given to you
by God. Secondly, faithfully contend.
His charge to Timothy was faithfully contend.
This is the warfare. He's already told him to fight
the good fight. Now he's going to tell him how
to do this. How do you engage in this war?
How do you engage in this fight? He says in 19.
The first part. Holding on to faith and a good
conscience, holding on to faith and a good conscience, telling
him exactly how he is to do this.
Pay attention to this because we're going to see that
Hymenaeus and Alexander did the opposite of this.
Paul's going to make that clear. So he's going to war and Timothy
of some important things in fighting this war.
The warfare consists of holding on to faith better put holding
on to the faith first he begins with teaching him to persevere
in faith. Hebrews chapter 12 one the
author of Hebrews, who many happen to think is the apostle
Paul, though there's no clear. Evidence of that, I would
probably lean that way in most everything that I read there.
We can't say it for sure, he says There in Hebrews chapter 12
he says therefore. Since we are surrounded by a
great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that
hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run
with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Here again, talking about that marathon that has been marked
out for the servants of Christ to hold on to the faith and to
persevere in the faith no matter what we face.
Looking back at all the witnesses right there in Hebrews
Chapter 11, he gives witness after witness after witness who
persevered in faith and he says, look back on them and you
persevere just the same. Here he's telling Timothy hold
on to the faith just as you've been instructed, trusting Christ
instead of what you see. There have been many a man
claimed to be called to ministry only to quit the ministry
because he took his eyes off of Jesus and he put his eyes on
other things. If you're ministering for the
Lord, I would encourage you to do this.
Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfector of your
faith. Don't look to anyone or at
anyone or anything else as in ministering for the Lord Jesus
Christ. In this war that we're in, there
is a constant, constant attack that is trying to cause you to
be discouraged so that you can't bring God glory through the
ministry that He has given to you.
Keep your eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Don't be of those who shrink back and are destroyed.
That's what the author of Hebrews says.
In Hebrews chapter 10, verse 39, he says, but we do not belong to
those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have
faith and are saved. If a person has faith, Let me
make this very clear. You're saved because the faith
has you. And so you were holding on to
that which is holding on to you. We know that that is Christ and
faith in Christ and Christ alone.
That is the one true faith. Paul reminding Timothy, hold on
to that faith. Hold on to the faith that you
once professed. Don't give in to the temptations
of focusing on anything else other than Christ, trusting in
God's promises even over any human perception, doing us take
God at His word, because aren't there things that we can
perceive that will get us discouraged and disillusioned
very quickly in ministry and in life?
Amen. I'll go ahead and admit that
you're still trying to figure out if you're a minister or not.
But in ministering to others, whether that's to your wife or
to your kids or to your husband, whether it's pastoring a church,
there are many things that try to cause you to get your eyes
off of God in His Word. And sometimes if we continue to
look with just our human perception, we'll find ourselves
discouraged, depressed. Instead, what we're to do is
we're to take God at His Word. Why don't you know that all of
His promises are yes and Amen in Christ Jesus?
That the God who's called you to ministry and promised to sustain
you with His power through His Spirit is faithful to do
everything that he has promised to do.
That's why he wants Timothy to look back.
Remember the promises that were spoken over to you from God
through the prophets. Hold on to these thing.
Continue to fight the fight, holding on to the faith.
Persevering in that faith because God is faithful.
Paul knew this and he understood this because he writes this to
Titus and Titus chapter 1 and another one of the pastoral
epistles that we will be covering in our study.
He says this in verse 1 of chapter 1.
Paul is servant of God and an apostle of Christ Jesus to
further the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth
that leads to godliness in the hope of eternal life, which God,
who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.
I find it interesting there that he made sure that Titus knows
that God does not lie, that everything that he has spoken
will come to pass, just as he has said that it would even
eternal life for those who by faith trust in Christ.
So Paul teaching Timothy to hold on to the faith, never to
regress, but the clinging to it as the only hope that any of us
have hold on to the faith. Not only does he want him to
persevere in the faith as he holds on to it, he also wants
him to contend for the faith, to contend, to literally fight for
the faith. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the one true faith, just as scripture says, 1 Lord, 1
faith, one baptism. He says Timothy, fight for this.
As you are warring in the good fight.
Don't forget what you are contending for.
You're not contending for your reputation, your well-being,
your own success. You are contending for the
gospel of Jesus Christ. Jude writes to the church and
Jude, he says in verse three there dear with friends,
although I was very eager to write you about the salvation we
share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the
faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people
to contend for the faith. Why?
Because the true faith was coming under attack from false
teachers who had infiltrated the church.
Paul is reminding Timothy, you are called and you are
commissioned to faithfully contend for this faith, the
fight against everyone and everything that comes against
the gospel. Philippians chapter one, verse
27. Paul says, whatever happens,
conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
And then whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my
absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit
striving together as one for the faith of the gospel.
It is God's will that the church and her ministers contend for
the faith, the one true gospel, fighting for that faith, all of
their days fighting for that faith and fighting for that
faith according to the Word of God, doing it just as the Word
of God has commanded us to do. So we look at this charge to
faithfully contend. He says faithfully contend as
you're holding on to the faith. And then he says this, having a
good conscience. Oh, this is important for
leaders because a leader cannot lead effectively beyond his
conscience, and if his conscience is good and his
conscience is clear, his leadership will be effective.
He says having a good conscience.
What does this mean? Well, it's what Paul was
striving for in his own ministry, as we see clearly in
Acts chapter 24 from his mouth. He says in verse 16 so I strive
always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
So when we talk about. Having a good conscience in this
fight that we are fighting, this war that we are in, this
campaign that we are enduring. We can't leave out the
importance of a clear conscience and first and foremost, a clear
conscience toward God, meaning that you are examining your life
constantly. Is there anything in my life
that is offensive to my God? Are there any of His commands
that I am breaking in Commission or omission?
Am I sinning in any way that is offensive to a holy God?
I want to confess those things, and I want to repent of those
things. Why?
So that my conscience will be clear.
It's hard for you to minister if your conscience isn't clear.
Why? Because if your conscience isn't
clear the whole time you're trying to lead others, you feel
like a hypocrite and the enemy is right there whispering to
you, you hypocrite. How can you minister to others
when you can't get this area of your life in order?
And so a clear conscience is very important.
Psalm 24, the psalmist said it like this.
And Psalm 24, Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord, who may
stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and
a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false
God. He is saying this, that the one
who really communes with God is the one who has not only clean
hands, but some of us are OK with just having clean hands,
aren't we? I'm not actively doing anything
sinful, but what are your motives that are going on in the
depths of your heart? Because he says, Who can ascend
the mountain or the hill of the Lord?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart.
What is he talking about? He's talking about a good
conscience, a clear conscience. You know why?
Because if your conscience isn't clear, you feel like you can't
even fellowship with God, don't you?
And so it's important that we see what Paul is telling Timothy
here. That is important as you fight
this war, this good fight of faith, that your conscience
toward God remains clear that everything you do, you test your
motives and you test your methods.
And you see, are those motives and are those methods pure when
I lay them next to the truth of the Word of God?
Are they pure when I lay them next to God's holy commands in
his Word? Are my motives pure and is my
conscience clean? We're talking here about a
person of conviction. Oh, some of you remember a time
where we would talk about people and we would refer to them as
God fearing people of conviction.
You know what you were saying? These people are concerned with
having a clear conscience. They want to do right according
to what the word of God says, and they want to have a clear
conscience toward God, pure in their motives, pure in their
methods, living life in obedience to what God has
commanded. There's a second aspect to that
as prescribed by Paul and what he says.
He wants his conscience to be clean there in Acts chapter 24
before God and man. He not only wants a clear
conscience toward God, he wants to be right with his fellow
brothers. He wants to be right with his
neighbors. He wants to keep a pure
testimony in the eyes of men. He wants to do right by others.
He wants to treat them. How a gospel minister ought to
treat people. He wants to show them kindness
and gentleness and love and mercy.
He wants to display the fruit of the Spirit in his life and all
of his dealings with man. And it's very important.
It's very important because man is not like God.
God is omniscient. He knows everything.
He knows if your conscience is truly clean before him, if you
have a good conscience toward him, and your motives and your
means toward him are all OK. God knows that.
But man can only go by what he actually sees.
We're required not only to have a good conscience before a holy
God, we are also called to have a good conscience and a clean
conscience before man. Treating them right, doing right
to them, living out what Jesus tells us to do in Luke chapter
6, verse 31, where He says do to others as you would have them do
to you. You want to have a clean and a
clear conscience toward men. Do what Jesus said in regard to
men. Treat your neighbor how you want
to be treated. I know some of you would say
that's old fashioned. That's something that my grandma
used to say or my grandma used to teach.
Mine did too, and I'm so thankful for that.
That's probably the first Bible lesson that I ever learned as a
child to do to others how I want them to do to me, to treat
people the way that I want to be treated.
I can remember it like it was yesterday.
Me and my cousin, who we love one another, we were like
brothers. We would have our spats from
time to time punch each other in the nose.
That's just what boys do. Moms don't freak out about it.
They'll be friends in a minute. But I remember getting a fight
with my cousin, and my grandma, being the Christian woman that
she was, use this as an opportunity to teach me the
principles of the Word of God and what Jesus Christ himself
taught. Because my instinct was if
somebody punches me in the nose, what, I'm going to punch them
back in the nose. Now, if you've ever been punched
in the nose, I hope that you haven't.
I can't say that about myself. I can't say that I have not
received. Punches in the nose and I have
not given them. If you've ever been hit in the
nose, it hurts. I don't care how big you are, it
hurts. Me and my cousin had a spat.
He'd punched me in the nose. Of course I went in there with
bloody nose, screaming and hollering as soon as the blood
was stopped. You know what I wanted to do?
Go punch him back in the nose. My grandma used it as an
opportunity. Use it as an opportunity to say,
hey, do you like getting punched in the nose?
Well, no, I don't like getting punched in the nose.
It hurts and I'm bleeding all over the place.
Well, the Lord said to do unto others as you would have them do
unto you. My grandmother didn't make me
not go in there and punch my cousin in the nose.
She simply taught me what the Lord Jesus taught in this word
and in his ministry on this earth.
And you know what? My whole attitude toward my
cousin changed. I, I really just wanted to be
his friend. I wanted to get along.
You know what? I don't want him punching me in
the nose. And so you know what?
I'm not going to punch him back in the nose.
We went in there, we let bygones be bygones.
And the next thing you know, we were playing with Ninja Turtles
in the Dirt, GI Joe or something like that.
That's why I say all that to say that the Lord has given us
insight into doing right unto others.
Do to others as you would have them do unto you.
Want to have a good conscience toward men?
Treat them the way that you want to be treated.
That's not an old fashioned or outdated message.
It's just something that's not being preached from the pulpits
in this country any longer. That's what Jesus Christ
preached. Treat people the way you want to
be treated. You want a company?
Treat your employees the way you would want to be treated as an
employee. If you contract out to people,
treat that customer the way that you would want people to treat
you if you were a customer. You want your wife to be nice to
you. Talk nicely to your wife.
You. Want to be a friend?
Have friends. Be a friend to others.
It's as simple do to others as you would have them do to you.
That'll allow you to have a clear conscience toward others
doing what's right before men. It's important that we do this.
Why? Because we have a testimony to
guard, don't we? Paul's definitely thinking about
this. He wants Timothy to guard the
testimony that which he has been entrusted with, the testimony of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter wanted the same.
If you remember when we were studying in first Peter, he said
it like this in chapter 2, verse 12.
He said Live such good lives among the pagans that though
they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and
glorify God on the day he visits us.
He says live such good lives among the pagans.
Have your conscience so cleared toward even the unbelievers that
even though they want to talk bad about you, they can't talk
bad about you, and in the end they'll actually see Christ in
you. What a testimony.
That is, Paul says, have a good conscience as you fight this
fight, as you endure this war, have a clear conscience toward
God and clear conscience toward others.
All knew that holding on to the true faith and a clear
conscience was the only possible way to be an effective minister
for the long haul. I say that to all of you.
Hopefully you want to be effective minister for the long
haul, that you realize you have signed up for a lasting
campaign. In that lasting campaign.
I hope your desire is to be effective for the long haul.
It's sad to see so many times going back to the fact that
parents are ministers. Parents will minister to their
children, bringing them up in the church, teaching them even
about Christ and the Scriptures. Then, as those children grow up
and they leave the house, the parents.
For some reason they forget that they're called to endure in that
ministry called marriage and even up in years they'll
divorce, causing great confusion to their grown children.
Why wouldn't my parents who've been married 40 or 50 years get
a divorce? This is the most foolish thing I
have ever seen. Now it's very common in our days
if you haven't looked around. And noticed why is that?
Because they didn't endure the long haul.
You know what? All of my days as a husband, I
have a duty to minister to my wife.
In all of her days she has a duty to minister to me and she
has to be clear in her conscience and ministering to me
in light of God and in light of me and I must do the same.
Am I ministering to my wife in a way?
That it pleases God and am I ministering to a wife and in a
way that it pleases my wife? Well, you thought ministry was
just for the pastors, just for the elders.
Oh, how you were sadly mistaken. What would happen when the
church actually realized that we're all ministers, we all have
duty and responsibility and the God-given callings that we have
on our lives, we actually would take the word of God and we hear
the charge that's being given here to ministers and that we
would faithfully contend in this warfare, holding on to faith,
having a good conscience. Paul wants this for young
Timothy. He wants this for the church at
Ephesus who Timothy would be leading and he makes that very
clear. Thirdly, you see the fight
against catastrophe is the next charge, the next aspect and
element of the charge that he's giving Timothy.
We could call this the warning. So we've seen Paul make it very
clear that Timothy, there's work to be done.
You're called. It has been confirmed by the
prophets when we laid our hands upon you at your ordination and
you are to faithfully contend there is a warfare that is going
on. There's a war for you to be
involved in a campaign that's never going to cease.
There's also a warning that one exists.
The fight against catastrophe that could happen.
He says in 19 B. Some have rejected these and
still have shipwrecked their faith.
What are these? These are what the faith and a
good conscience, he says. Some have rejected those things.
They didn't listen to me. They didn't adhere to my
teaching. They didn't hear my warnings and
so have shipwrecked their faith. And he's going to name them, he
says. Among them are Hymenaeus and
Alexander. These are real people that
existed in the church, he says, whom I have handed over to Satan
to be taught not. To blasphemy.
What an interesting statement. It's a kind of confusing
statement for the American church because what you've done
inadvertently, as you put the Lord and Satan on the same
plane, you've actually made them Co equals and they're just
fighting this war and hopefully the good side wins.
No, Satan is under the sovereign control of the Lord God
Almighty, always has been. Always will be.
And so when we see things like that, don't let those things
startle you. We'll explain them thoroughly so
that you know what he's saying. Well, what Paul is doing here in
this charge is he's teaching Timothy how to avoid catastrophe
in the faith, what he calls a shipwrecked faith.
He's saying, I want you to avoid any discipline or judgment that
would come from God through the power of Satan.
You say what? Yes, Satan is not above God.
Satan must have submit to God in every aspect and he is not able
to do anything unless a sovereign God decrees it and
allows it. So he doesn't want Timothy to
fall into this. Trap as Hymenaeus and Alexander
had. This is not something new to the
Apostle Paul or to what he taught.
In fact, in First Corinthians we see this exact same thing in
chapter 5 in the first verse where he's dealing with a case
of incest inside of the Corinthian church.
As if orgies and sexual immorality weren't enough and
eating food sacrificed to idols, now we have in the Corinthian
church incest. He says in verse 5 it's actually
reported that there is sexual immorality among you and of the
kind even the pagans do not tolerate.
A man is sleeping with his father's wife.
That would be his stepmother. If you're following along, he
says, and you are proud, he said you're OK with it.
Shouldn't you rather have gone into mourning and have put out
of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?
He said. Shouldn't you be grieving for
his soul, putting him out of fellowship for the purpose of
potential repentance and restoration?
He goes and he says, for my part, even though I am not
physically present, I am with you in spirit as one who is
present with you in this way. I have already passed judgment
in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this.
Now for all you people who like to throw out, judge not lest you
be judged. Paul says I've already passed
judgment on this man. What's the difference?
He's passing judgment on someone who.
Professes to be a Christian. He's already passed judgment on
him. He says, So when you are
assembled, and I'm with you in spirit, in the power of our
Lord, Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the
destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved on the
day of the Lord. What is he saying?
He's saying turn him over to Satan and what we will find out
when he's turned over to Satan and he suffers that suffering
and that persecution that comes from the evil. 1 If he is a true
believer, he will tuck his tail and he will run to the feet of
the cross in repentance immediately.
If he is not, he will continue on his way and his apostasy and
he will confirm that he is apostate and never really knew
Christ at all. So that's the same thing that
he's saying here, that Hap is happening to Hymenaeus and
Alexander. But what he's telling Timothy is
he's saying this. I don't want this to happen to
you. Hold on to the faith and hold on
to a good conscience so that it doesn't happen to you.
Another instance of it. Satan being used by a sovereign
God to accomplish his sovereign will as the apostle Paul in his
life as an apostle. In Second Corinthians chapter 12
verse 7 Paul says this. He says to keep me from becoming
conceited because of the these. These surpassing great
revelations there was giving me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger
of Satan to torment me. Even the apostle Paul says that
I have a thorn that is a messenger of Satan that is
constantly tormenting me. Now, there are theologians who
have argued about what this is for eons.
I'm not going to get into that today.
But what I can tell you is it is a thorn and it is because of a
messenger of Satan, God allowing this to happen and Paul coming
to this conclusion that God has allowed it to happen to keep him
humble. It is the Lord's continual
discipline in his life. Are you thankful for the Lord's
continual discipline in the life of the believer?
I'm thankful that if need be, He will send an agent of Satan to
torment me, to keep me humble, so that I will be all that
Christ wants me to be, so that I will persevere and I will hold
on to the faith. And I will have a clear
conscience before God and man, and I will finish the race
faithfully. Luke chapter 22 The Lord himself
testifying now God sovereignly uses Satan to achieve the
purposes and the will of God. Luke 22 we see the Lord say to
Simon Peter. He says in verse 31, Simon,
Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat, but I have.
Prayed for you Simon, that your faith may not fail and when you
have turned back, strengthen your brothers.
I love how the Lord words that there He lets him know you're
the real deal. You're the real deal because
you're going to turn back now. Satan is going to sift all of
you as wheat. Now in that sifting, please
understand this. Judas was sifted out as an
apostate, not a true believer, but he lets Peter know on the
front end. Peter, you're not those who
shrink back and are destroyed. You are those who believe and
who are saved. And when you come back, you're
coming back. Strengthen your brothers.
He's saying this. I'm going to let Satan do this
to you. But there is a greater good and
there is a greater cause. Why?
Because when Satan is unleashed, he's going to be used by God to
reveal things. What did he do in this
situation? He revealed that Peter was a
true follower of Christ. He revealed that Judas was not
in the lives of Hymenaeus and Alexander.
Paul says I'm going to turn them over to Satan to be taught not
to blasphemy. Does Paul know anything about
blaspheming? Yes, he does.
He was once a blasphemer, and you know what?
Through his blasphemy, he realized how offensive to God he
really had been. And God used that in his life to
bring him to Christ. And So what Paul is wishing for
Hymenaeus and Alexander is not I'll will toward them.
You know what he's. Wishing that they come to
repentance and they return to the Lord, and that it reveals
that they truly are believers who have just drifted off into
error and that they're not really apostate as Judas was
only pretending, only trying to deceive people.
Not a true believer at all. So why do I tell you all of
these things? I want you to understand what
Paul is saying when he says in verse twenty.
Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I am, whom I
have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blasphemy.
Why is this important in the context of him writing to
Timothy? He doesn't want Timothy to fall
into the same trap or have to face the same things.
Paul doesn't want Timothy or anyone else for that matter, to
suffer the same fate. So what is he doing?
He's teaching him how to keep this catastrophe from happening,
how to guard your yourself against a shipwrecked faith.
Now, if anyone knows anything about shipwrecks, the apostle
Paul, who was in multiple shipwrecks, would understand
about shipwrecks. Paul knew this.
Once a ship runs aground, it's useless.
It's just going to sit there and it's going to get battered and
the safest thing for us to do is try to get in a lifeboat and try
to get the Malta as fast as we can because when as this as this
ship crashes against the rocks and against the waves, we are.
All but dead. So he understands when he uses
the term shipwreck what it means to be shipwrecked, and he's
using it as a metaphor to describe the faith of Hymenaeus
and Alexander. And he doesn't want Timothy to
shipwreck his faith as they have.
I'll see the concern of the father here.
You know a good father, when he sees a young person throwing
their life away, he doesn't act like that person's not throwing
his or her life away. He takes his teenage kids out of
the same age, you say. You see little Johnny over
there. He's gotten into drugs, he's
gotten into alcohol. He's doing some pretty stupid
stuff. Don't fall into that trap
because he's headed down a dangerous Rd.
That's what a good father is going to do for a son.
Here we see Paul as that good father to his son Timothy,
saying don't fall into this catastrophe.
It's dangerous, but how would one fall into that?
As Hymenaeus and Alexander fell, he's teaching Timothy to refuse
satanic doctrines. Hymenaeus and Alexander fell
into false doctrine. They fell into unsound teaching
and began to teach these things, therefore shipwrecking their
faith. He doesn't want Timothy to fall
into these satanic doctrines. He said, well, pastor, that's
kind of harsh. Do you really think that false
doctrine is satanic? Yes, I do.
Not only do I think that, but Paul confirms that in fact, in a
few chapters over in chapter 4, this is exactly what he says
about false teaching and false doctrine.
He says in chapter 4 verse one the spirit clearly says that in
the later times some will abandoned the faith and follow
deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Paul is confirming there that the heresies that we see that
are being taught by these false teachers in this church and even
in our day, those are doctrines of demons that they are
teaching. Anything that contradicts true
orthodox Christianity and is heretical is a doctrine of
demons. They're demonically designed to
lead you not toward Christ, but to lead you away from Christ.
That's the whole point of them. And what he's saying is because
Hymenaeus and Alexander didn't guard themselves and contend for
thee faith. Having a good conscience,
they've been attacked and they've now fallen to the
satanic doctrines. They are involved in heresy.
And he's warning Timothy, don't embrace unsound doctrine or you
will suffer the same fate as Hymenaeus and Alexander.
They turned from the true faith. They followed false teachings.
They gave in to the desires of their flesh.
They refused to hold on to the one true faith that in Jesus
Christ. And he's letting Timothy know
this. You're not above it.
Oh, let's not forget that there
once was a Judas who served alongside of the very disciples
and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, who at one time seemed
as if he was doing all the right things, but he had the wrong
heart. He was an unbeliever only
pretending. Paul doesn't want to assume.
That Timothy is going to make it without any encouragement to
hold on to the true faith. And so we use this Hymenaeus and
Alexander as an example for him to avoid the catastrophe that
could potentially await him. The good leader will always do
that, won't they? They'll warn those who they are
ministering to about the dangers that are out there.
I'm thankful on Thursday nights we as men here at Key Life
Fellowship have embarked on a journey through just exploring
heresy. Heresies that are ancient in
nature, but that continue to thrive even in the church today.
And boy, how enlightening that is.
Why do we do that? It's not to pick on the
heretics. We do that so that you will be
equipped to fight the good fight and to stay the course and to
keep the faith and to finish the race.
That's what Paul wants for Timothy here.
He wants him to refuse satanic doctrines, but also to resist
sinful desires. Simonnaeus and Alexander, LED
away by these and enticed by these doctrines of demons,
quickly fell to the desires of their sinful nature.
Perhaps they wanted to be somebody they embraced teaching
that maybe caused other people to think that they had some kind
of unique knowledge or wisdom. Well, even in this day that Paul
is addressing the church, there was the early signs of
Gnosticism. Perhaps Hymenaeus and Alexander
received some knowledge that nobody else had and they were
somehow trying to impress people so that they would they would
see them as, as spiritual leaders, Follow them.
Instead of following the apostle Paul and the true gospel, he's
telling Timothy you got to resist these sinful desires, to
intentionally fight against doing anything that would
violate your conscience, anything that would bring
reproach upon your ministry or upon your life so that you can
be fully effective. In your work for Christ, he's
simply telling Timothy to strive to keep your conscience clear
before God and before man. As you fight in this war, do it
faithfully so that you don't wreck your faith.
Become shipwrecked like Hymenaeus in Alexander.
He's saying discipline yourself. Discipline yourself to resist,
mortify the flesh and all the desires to be accepted by man,
to be popular in the thoughts of man.
Stay true to sound doctrine and sound teaching.
Hold on to the one true faith, the one true gospel.
Do it with a clear and a good conscience, bringing glory to
God. Paul knew that Timothy wasn't
above it. Just as I'm not above it.
Just as you're not above, just as you're not above, just as any
of us are not above it. Did you know Paul himself knew
that he wasn't above it as well. Paul never wanted to become an
apostate shipwreck his faith become the laughingstock of
Christianity. In fact, he says in First
Corinthians Chapter 9 verse 27, he says no.
Instead of giving in to the desires of my flesh, he said no.
I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave, so that after
I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified
for the prize. You know what he did?
He took his ministry seriously. He said I'm going to fight even.
If I if I have to. Fight against myself.
He's metaphorically speaking here so that we understand the
picture. He is beating his self into
subjection. He is disciplining his self so
that he does not become a castaway disqualified, so that
his faith is not shipwrecked like that of Hymenaeus and
Alexander. And Paul doesn't think he's
above it, and he knows that Timothy is not above it.
And he's writing to him and he's encouraging him and he's
charging him to stay true. Refuse Satanic doctrine.
Resist your sinful desires and be a faithful minister of the
gospel of Jesus Christ. Unlike those who have defected,
namely Hymenaeus and Alexander, so Paul had seen the shipwrecked
faith of others and he cared so much about Timothy that he was
not going to let him go. Unwarned Church, as your pastor,
I love you so much that I'm not going to let you go.
Unwarned, Be warned. So that you.
Don't follow in the footsteps of Hymenaeus and Alexander.
Guard yourself against satanic doctrines.
Resist your sinful desires as you minister to others and as
you're used by God for His glory and for the gospel.
Paul wanted to charge Timothy and remind him that until this
life is over, we're all in danger.
We're all in danger, humanly speaking, of a shipwrecked
faith. Don't shipwreck your faith.
Prove that you are a true believer.
Don't be like the American church.
Or they based everything on a profession.
Yeah, At one time they professed to be a believer.
So I think since they've passed, they're in heaven.
Yeah, but they lived like hell their entire life.
And they actually defected from faith in Jesus Christ and said
they didn't believe. But yeah, When they were seven,
though, they said they did. Yeah.
But when they were 21 and they deconstructed from the faith and
they said I no longer believe, they proved that they never
believed. Perseverance is the mark of a
true believer. Perseverance is the mark of the
true minister. He who endures to the end
according to the Lord Jesus will be saved.
Those who do not endure to the end will prove that they are
apostate. Paul saying, Timothy, I don't
want to have to hand you over to Satan to see what you really
are. Continue to show what you really
are so that that doesn't happen. A man of faith and a good
conscience, a faithful minister of the gospel.
So what does this mean to us taking a 2000 year old letter
that an apostle writes to a pastor?
How can this help us in our day? There's a lesson here for all
ministers. By your own admission, you all
realize that if you're in Christ, you are a minister.
I pray that you heed the warning and see the charge that has been
laid out for us today. You're ministering to someone.
Are you ministering well? Are you ministering according to
the word of God? All here holding Timothy
accountable by giving him this charge and 2000 years later that
same charge holding us accountable.
I'm thankful for it. I don't want to be turned over
to Satan. Find out who I am.
I want to fight the good fight, as Paul said.
I want to finish my course. I want to keep the faith at the
end of this war. I want to hear those words.
Well done, that good and faithful servant.
Let that mean something to all of you who claim to be servants
of Christ. That should be our objective.
That should be our motivation. That should be our eternal goal
to the unbeliever. Before you can ever minister to
anyone, you must surrender to the ministry of Jesus Christ.
That was a ministry of reconciliation according to what
the the apostle Paul taught. What do I mean by that?
It's Jesus Christ who came with the ministry of reconciliation.
Is he who came to this earth and who offered himself as a
sacrifice on a cross. Paying the debt that we as
sinners owe so that we could then be reconciled to God.
He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the
righteousness of God. Meaning this, that those who
believe in Jesus Christ, who trust in His sacrifice of
atonement as the only hope that they have for the forgiveness of
sin, who surrendered to him as Lord and Savior, repenting of
their sin and their unbelief, and turning by faith to Jesus
Christ. Only those can be reconciled to
God. It is the ministry of Jesus
Christ, and until you are reconciled to God through the
ministry of Christ, you can't minister to anyone else.
If you're an unbeliever here today and you're a husband, you
can't rightfully minister to your wife.
If you're a wife, you can't rightfully minister to your
husband, fathers, mothers, you can't minister to your children.
Dad, you can't lead your family effectively.
Why? You've not yet been born again.
You've not yet been reconciled to God through the ministry of
Jesus Christ. And until Jesus ministers to you
personally, and I pray that He will today, I pray that He opens
your eyes to the fact that you are a Sinner and you are in
desperate need of a Savior. And that that Savior came and he
died on a cross outside of Jerusalem by His own will.
And He gave himself for all who will believe and trust in him.
He was buried. And on the third day he rose
again, showing that He is the giver and the sustainer of life,
and that He can give new and eternal life to all who trust in
Him. I pray today that Jesus would
show himself to you in that way, causing you to desperately cry
out to Him in humility, calling on the name of Jesus.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, the Bible
says they shall be saved. Call on Jesus today and be
saved. Be reconciled unto God, and then
and then and only then be the minister that Christ desires for
you to be. Let's pray together.
Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you for your word.
We thank you for the challenge. We thank you for the charge.
We thank you for the encouragement and the insight.
Or let us not be like Hymenaeus and Alexander.
Let us not shipwreck our faith, but let us do what we have been
instructed in Your Word to do today.
Let us fulfill the Commission and the calling that you have on
our lives as ministers by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us faithfully content as we fight this war all of our days.
Lord, let us be aware and to fight against the catastrophe
that potentially awaits us. Lord, let us fight against sound
doctrine, satanic and demonic schemes.
Let us resist the sinful desires of our own flesh so that we can
hold on to the faith with a good conscience and bring you glory.
As we ministered others. We pray and we ask these things
in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
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