Entrusted With a Message

Timothy was facing opposition to his faith.

In 1 Timothy 1:3 (NIV) Paul urges Timothy, "...stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer..." In 1 Timothy 1:18-19 (NIV) Paul urges him, "... fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith."

How many times have you ever wanted to give up? I'm not talking about temptation per se. I'm talking about how hard it is in life when you feel like you are the only one standing when everyone around you seems to be giving up, giving in, or opposing you. It's hard to stand alone, facing the ridicule of others, contending with their apathy, and coping with their hostility.

Paul is writing to Timothy because Timothy is being opposed by people within his own church! Timothy was trying to exercise spiritual leadership, but people weren't taking him seriously. He was being treated like a greenhorn. Maybe they were putting him in his place. Maybe they'd smirk at him or belittle him. In 1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV) Paul says, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

We can also surmise that people were critical about Timothy. By reading 1 Timothy you can imagine their complaints. They took issue with him over worship, and over the salary he and other leaders took from the church. They judged him for wanting wine to ease his stomach pain. They judged those he appointed as leaders and made false accusations against them. They took issue with how money was used to help certain widows in need.

Criticism hurts. It hurts even more when it comes from someone close. Criticism makes us want to give up and walk away. So Timothy wanted to quit. He wanted to leave.

If you are going to be a serious man or woman of God, you will face opposition.

And then there was a group of men who were overtly disrupting Timothy's work. In 1 Timothy 1:3-7 (NIV) Paul tells Timothy, "As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work-- which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm."

There is a lot we could unpack in these verses. The bottom line is that not just in ministry, but in all of life, we are surrounded by people who oppose us in some way. You teach God's word, but they teach false doctrines. You preach the gospel, but they chase myths, genealogies, and old wives' tales. You try to promote God's work, but they promote controversies related to music, dress, buildings, finances, their preferences, their pet peeves, and pet doctrines. You're confident, but they're equally confident.

Here's the point. If you're going to be a serious man or woman of God, those closest to you will oppose you. Maybe it will be your husband or your wife. Maybe it will be your child. It may be a close friend, or relative, or neighbor. It could be a coworker, your boss, or a professor.

If you attempt to be a serious man or woman of God, those closest will try to marginalize you. Beware, they will belittle your success, criticize your failures, refute your beliefs, and stir up dissension. They will do anything to frustrate the work of God in your life. Expect it. It's what happens.

It's not just the people closest to us who oppose us. It's people in general. Not just people within the church, or within our families, but people outside the church, and outside our families.

Look what Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:8-11 (NIV). "We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers-- and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me."

We are surrounded by wicked people.

Now this is quite a list. The bottom line is that we surrounded by wicked people. A wicked person is a person whose heart is set on his evil desires. When the Holy Spirit convicts his conscience, he hardens his heart. When he hears God's law, he ridicules it.

Now beware. There are wicked people within the Church. There are wicked people attending Lakeside. Some of you are wicked-- your conscience is seared. When God's Spirit convicts you, you are unresponsive. You don't repent, you aren't broken, and you don't cry out for mercy or forgiveness. You just harden your heart more! You're a lawbreaker and you pride yourself in being a rebel. You are ungodly and sinful-- that is your identity and it's how you are known by others. You have no intention of ever changing! You are unholy and irreligious. The law is supposed to humble you, to re-sensitize your conscience, and make you cry out to God for mercy. But there you go, remaining in your wickedness.

If you're a wicked person, you don't care about anything that is being said from this pulpit, or what is read from God's word. In 1 Timothy 1:20 (NIV) two such individuals are turned over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. That's what it takes sometimes. As my friend Scott Payne always says, some people have to be humbled by the street, by sickness, by disease, by death, by addiction, imprisonment, violence, hatred, depression, or illness. This isn't God's way, it's the rebellious way of the wicked. God's way is grace, mercy, peace, and everlasting life.

Wickedness can exist inside or outside of the Church.

But I digress. If you are going to be a serious man or woman of God, you are going to be opposed by wicked people inside and outside the Church. Look what Paul describes in the rest of the passage in 1 Timothy 1:9-10 (NIV). "...those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers..."

I don't know anyone who has killed their father or mother, but there are wicked people who would just as soon wish their mother or father were dead than to love them, honor them, obey them, respect them, forgive them, and care for them in their old age. I do know people who have taken the life of another, whether in the womb or out of the womb.

Paul mentions adultery, and we know what adultery is, but we're surrounded by wicked people unwilling to honor the covenant of marriage by taking their live-in partner as their husband or wife. We know the sickness and perversity that pervades our society-- the coarse joking and the sexual harassment and immorality that's so epidemic. I don't know personally know any slave traders, but I know of people enslaved by drug dealers and by the sex industry. I don't know many who would consider themselves liars or perjurers. But there are many who overcharge for their services, cheat on their taxes, pirate software, illegally copy music, commit petty theft, steal from their parents, mismanage estates, or cheat their employees out of wages.

The cure for wickedness is God's grace.

Now not for a second am I implying that a wicked person is beyond God's grace. In 1 Timothy 1:13-14 (NIV) Paul himself says, "Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."

The cure for wickedness is God's grace, mercy, and peace. Lest you have any doubt about the power of God's grace, Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:15-17 (NIV), "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-- of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen."

God's grace is powerful enough to snatch anyone from the power of Satan. But the point of my sermon is that if you are going to be a serious man or woman of God, you are going to be resisted by wicked, rebellious, ungodly, sinful, unholy, and irreligious people.

You will grateful, but they will be ungrateful. You will be forgiving, but they will seek retaliation. You will be pure, but they will be impure. You will honor marriage, but they will fornicate, commit adultery, forsake their vows, or never make vows. You will love your parents, but they will disown theirs. You will be truthful, but they will freely lie. You will give, but they will demand. You will earn wealth, but they will envy and steal. You will be disciplined, but they will be reckless and impulsive. You will be sober, but they will be drunk and addicted.

The goal of saying all of this is not for us to become conceited, as if we have, or even could, make ourselves righteous. Nothing is further from the truth. There but for the grace of God go you and I! Nor is my goal to heap up a load of guilt on you. Your guilt can be taken away forever by the blood of Jesus Christ, if only you would believe on Jesus' name.

We should not ever give up or give in, ever!

The point of 1 Timothy 1:3 is to remind us how important it is that we should not give up or give in, ever! Paul's opening admonition to Timothy is to stay in Ephesus. His admonition in 1 Timothy 1:18-19 (NIV) is to, "fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience." Later in 1 Timothy 4:16 (NIV) Paul tells Timothy, "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers." And in 1 Timothy 5:11-12 (NIV) he says, "But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

We're not in Ephesus, we're in Springfield. What does it mean for us today to stay in Ephesus, fight the good fight, or hold on to a good conscience? What does it mean to stay in your marriage? In your home? In your job? In your church? In your situation? What does it look like to keep engaging your spouse, engaging your child, to keep shining in your dark place, to keep praying, and to keep fighting for what is holy and righteous and good? What does it look like for you to make the tough choices, to hold on to the faith, to live with a clear conscience, to never give up, and to never give in. You see, we always want to leave and we always want to resign. But God wants us to stay in order to fight the good fight. We are his people!

Timothy was not alone in his challenges.

In 1 Timothy 1:1-2 (NIV) Paul writes, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."

There are many hard things we must do simply because God commands us to do them. This is character. It's that we'd do the hard things, and say the hard things, and be that man or woman of God, even in the most difficult of circumstances, even when everyone else is going the other way. It's that we'd have true staying power.

Even though it felt like it, Timothy wasn't alone. Imagine what it was like for Timothy to hear Paul say, "You're my true son in the faith." But look closely at 1 Timothy 1:1-2. We're also not alone because God is our savior and Christ Jesus is our hope. God is holding us in his grace. In mercy, he is helping us stand firm, providing exactly what's needed, because he loves us. And we have peace, knowing that in all we face, God is working for the good of those who love him and who are called according to grace. Such is the power of our fellowship with one another, and with God the Father, and with Christ Jesus our hope. It's to know that we are not alone. That God is in this thing with us. That ultimately, it's his battle.