Category: Sermon

The passage we are going to cover today has been a fascinating one for the church over the ages. More so in recent times this has been a reason for a lot of fascination because it deals with the different roles that men and women have within the church. And the goal of the sermon is not to make it a more fascinating topic but to recognize God as absolutely fantastic due to His wisdom and ways!

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

3 weeks back we looked at the passage in chapter 2 which urged us to pray all kinds of prayers for all kinds of people…especially those that are harsh toward us. And what was the reason for this: is that they come to knowledge of the truth! One of the key points we were challenged on was to pray for someone who has actually harmed us or wronged us. Someone who we think would never get saved. Two things happen when we pray for them:

a) The gospel is exalted because we affirm that it has the power to save anyone. No matter who you are and what you’ve done, the good news (that Jesus Christ died and rose again) is able to deliver you from the wrath of God. That’s the powerful message we communicate when we pray for those that are against us or against the gospel. Do we really believe that the gospel is “good news for all”? Even the worst of sinners?

b) God is glorified because we reflect the heart of God when we pray and desire their salvation. We show ourselves to be God’s children by wanting our “enemies” and people unlike us come to the knowledge of the Savior. If we ourselves were enemies of God who were shown immense mercy and patience through the gospel, how can we be self righteous to not make that same prayer for others no matter how cruel or wicked they’ve been?

Today’s passage jumps off where we left. The context is about prayer…praying for all kinds of people so that they get saved and come to the knowledge of truth.

V8 says: I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarrelling.

We are talking about church Gatherings here. Paul is obviously not saying that only men can pray in a Gathering but I think he’s pointing toward men taking the lead as they offer various prayers for various people.

“Lifting holy hands” is a typical posture for prayer in the Bible. Few examples are:

Psalm 63:4: I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

God tells the sinful Israelites in Isaiah 1:15, “When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood”.

And then he goes on to add “without anger or quarrelling”…what is he trying to say here?

He’s probably saying that because anger and quarrelling was an issue in the Ephesian church. It could probably be the result of controversial teachings that were being propagated by false teachers. So Paul wrote this to Timothy so that he could bring order to their church meetings. Also what I think he’s trying to say here is that the lives of men who profess faith in Christ should be defined not by anger or quarrelling but by prayer. Isn’t that profound but also convicting?

If people from within the church and outside the church would be asked to describe you based on your lifestyle, what would they say about it? Would they say it’s defined by prayer? Or would they say that it’s defined by quarrels and anger?

One of the things that men generally struggle with is a desire for respect and pride. We are always crying and demanding respect from various people in our lives. Our parents, our spouse, our colleagues, our friends and our church family as well. When we don’t receive it, we end up quarrelling.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions[a] are at war within you?[b] 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (James 4:1-3)

Men, the reason why there are constant quarrels and fights is not because of the other person or the circumstance but because of your sinful desires. If the way you deal with tough times and conflicts is by fighting over it instead of bringing it to God in prayer, the truth is that you struggle with a great deal of pride and selfishness. And that speaks a lot about whom we trust and whom are we trying to please. Are we really trusting God or are we trusting and trying to please ourselves? Our lifestyle displays what we believe. Our lifestyle communicates what we love.

Luke 6:45: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

What would it take for us to be identified as men that are prayerful?

9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.

When Paul instructs the women, he tells how they should be defined by their “good works” and not what they wear. And this is a huge deal for women. In today’s time, this might seem to restrict a woman’s right to wear whatever she wants to wear.

Let me phrase the same question that was phrased to the men, if people from within the church and outside the church would be asked to describe you based on your lifestyle, what would they say about it? Would they say it’s defined by good works? Or would they say it’s defined by the external and what you wear?

And I think while the struggle with men is with pride, women generally on the other hand struggle with acceptance. Therefore, what they wear gives them self worth. That feeling of being accepted by people. The instruction here is to not adorn themselves with costly clothing and fancy hair and jewelry but to adorn themselves with good works.

3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. (1 Pet 3:3-6)

What this passage says is what God actually views as beautiful is not the external adornment but the gentleness and character of the heart. A submissive heart is what God finds very precious! One may ask, “Well is there something wrong in trying to look nice?” No, there’s nothing wrong. However, if most of our effort and time is spent in making us look attractive externally rather than considering how can we serve and love Christ and people, then it is an issue of the heart which needs to be addressed.

What would it take to be identified as a woman of good works?

And I think the gospel addresses both of these issues that men and women face. Our struggle with pride and acceptance can be addressed by the gospel. When we understand how big, Holy and loving God is and how sinful we are in the light of His holiness, it completely crushes the pride in us. We realize the only way we can have a restored relationship with the Creator is by trusting in a Wonderful Savior and not in ourselves. The cheap thrill that we have by exalting ourselves and fighting for our pride is thrown away when we receive the true Joy giver.

On the other hand, we know that through Christ we are fully loved and accepted by God. There’s no greater fulfillment and satisfaction than knowing that our Creator and Redeemer has totally accepted us. So we’re freed to pursue what God has called us to do.

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve;14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

Now what does Paul mean here? If we don’t understand the context and the reason for what Paul is saying we might assume that he is being chauvinistic. So let’s dig deep to know what the context is?

Is Paul trying to say that women cannot speak in Gatherings?

No, because in 1 Cor 11:5 Paul talks about order in worship out there and he clearly describes women who pray and prophesy.

but every wife[c] who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven

Just to clarify on this verse that head covering in the Corinthian culture, a married woman who uncovered her head in public brought shame to her husband. As you can see in v5, praying and prophesying by women was permitted or he wouldn’t have mentioned this example.

But someone may say “what about 1 Cor 14:33-35 where there is a similar instruction?”

As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

Again to understand this, we’ll need to look at the immediate context which is v29: Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. The context dealt with examination and critique of prophecies which is more a ruling or governing function of the church.

Therefore, even in 1 Tim 2:11, when Paul says she is to learn quietly in submissiveness, he’s not saying that she cannot speak at all but the reference is to v12 where he says:
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man

Now if you remember from last week, the elder has three roles: feeding the church, caring for the church and protecting the church. Teaching and exercising authority over a man are roles fulfilled by the elder in a biblical church. Teaching is how the church is fed by the Word of God and exercising authority is the governing authority to lead, care and protect the church.

One may ask, “what if the woman is gifted to teach? What about that?”

13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

It’s interesting how Paul doesn’t talk about culture as the reason for this mandate but goes back to Creation to show how this was the order in God’s design.

Adam was created first by God. In God’s mind, the leadership at home was given to the man. That was his role. This in no way makes the woman unequal. There is a difference in role but both have equal worth, importance and value. Both men and women are equally important and valuable to God.

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. (Gen 1:27)

The second reason Paul gives is Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

Again, Paul isn’t trying to blame Eve for the fall and say Adam was innocent but he was trying to point to something else that happened in the Garden.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You[a] shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,[b] she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin cloths. (Gen 3:1-7)

Adam was present with Eve at the time when she was being tempted. His responsibility was also to protect the spiritual life in the home. He silently watched and participated in the act of disobedience instead of preserving the faith of the family while Eve took the lead. This role reversal resulted in the Fall of mankind. Satan attacked the male headship of the home when he spoke to Eve and deceived her. Paul probably is stating this to show how disastrous it can be when men don’t ascribe to God’s design and take up spiritual leadership in the church.

This is not to say that women are incapable of teaching the Bible. In fact a woman in a church might be better gifted at teaching but the office to lead and shepherd the church is for a man. In Titus 2, it urges mature woman in the faith to disciple younger women and children. Their gifts can still be used in the church but differently. For eg: if me and my wife did the same thing and didn’t have different roles, our home wouldn’t function properly. Each of us have different skills which we bring to the table but our roles are distinct.

Another question would be, “can a woman participate/help in other ministries of the church like example worship/music ministry?”

The only exception given biblically is with respect to the office of an elder. Yes, she can help in other ministries. Regarding worship leading, the Gathering doesn’t view worship leading as an office of an elder. The person leading worship isn’t teaching expositionally nor does the person exercise any authority. Reading scripture, selecting songs, prayer can and should have participation of women. I think the concern would be if a man came up to Jane or Angela and asked them to pastor/lead him.

We realize that God desires and has ordained for men to be the spiritual leaders at home and in the church. In God’s heart, this was the best way (complementary roles) to reflect the harmonious interpersonal relationship within the Trinity. In the God Head, all members are equal in worth and personhood yet they have different roles.

So what’s the application here?

One of the reasons why I feel women have had to step up in the last few years has been because men have been passive and lazy toward their responsibility of spiritual leadership. In my experience in youth ministry for a few years and also the churches I’ve been to, it’s been sad to see a minority of men participating, getting involved and leading people in the faith. “Where are the men?” is a question often asked. God’s church requires faithful, reliable and prayerful men who will lead their families and the church to know and love God more. You don’t have to know everything or even be smarter than the women to lead. God calls men to lead by taking the initiative.

The encouragement to women would be to continue to actively participate in all the different ways that God has designed for them with the variety of gifts that they’ve been given. However, if they notice a pattern where there’s only a female initiative in evangelism, bible studies or discipleship…it would be good to just have a word with the men gently encouraging them to take the lead in those areas. This I think works well in a context of a husband/wife relationship where the wife can gently encourage her husband to take the lead and also in the context of close GC relationships because we see how God has called and designed different roles in the family of God to display who He is.

It’s been an amazing journey of understanding God’s heart for the church as we’ve looked through 1 Timothy. Last week Jeff preached on the “Qualifications of an Elder”: What are the qualifying characteristics of a person who needs to be appointed as an elder? Do you remember the 6 points?

1. Desire
2. Character
3. Ability
4. Family Leadership
5. Maturity
6. Reputation.

This week we’ll be jumping off what we learnt last week…We’ll get into the nitty gritty details of “What an Elder Is” and “What he does”. Isn’t that a great question? What does an elder do? Just to remind you all again…Elder, Pastor, Bishop and Overseer all mean the same thing. In the Bible, these words are used interchangeably.

So coming back, why do you think it’s important to know what is an elder and what he does biblically? I think there are two reasons:

1. To prevent abuse within the church of God

We’ve all heard numerous stories how elders have wrongly used their spiritual position in the church to take advantage of their people physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Just imagine the damage it would’ve caused. Some victims of this kind of spiritual abuse have even abandoned the faith because the leaders who should’ve led them toward Christ are in turn abusing them. That is really cruel! Christ would never ever want that to happen to His church!

2. To get rid of the unhealthy baggage from our previous church experiences

Most of us who have been to other churches in the past are carrying some unhealthy perceptions on the role and function of an elder which can affect our involvement and participation in this local body. Believe it or not, all of us are carrying some kind of baggage. Two examples are here:

a) Authoritarian View of an Elder

Some of us have seen elders from other churches being harsh, prideful and dominating. He’s more like the “Boss/Landlord” rather than a “Shepherd” taking care of the flock. This develops an unhealthy pattern of fear among the church. People are always fearful of the elder and the pursuit of the congregation turns into pleasing and exalting the elder rather than Christ. The elder is viewed only in terms of his administrative and organizational qualities.

b) Diminished View of an Elder

This is the other extreme where there is no respect for the elder. You’ll often find people frequently bad mouthing the elder and also being non-submissive to anything he says. Well, the main issue with this view is that they are slandering the authority that God has placed over their souls. This is never pleasing to God.

These reasons (abuse and baggage) often hamper us from really enjoying God’s design for the church and living out God’s purposes in and through our lives. There is a reason why God has placed called and gifted individuals over the church so that they can lead people to love, trust and obey God more effectively. Again to re-iterate Jeff’s point last week…Pastors/Elders are sheep themselves. We are equal in dignity and worth before God. And we are equally in need of God’s grace each day. But by rebelling against God’s appointed leaders, it doesn’t enable us to have greater love and intimacy with Christ. It’s like a wife responding to a question on her husband’s leadership saying “Leader? You wish! He can’t lead anyone”. Although both the husband and wife are equal in God’s sight but in order to grow and live out God’s purposes they’ll need to complement each other in their roles and not fight to establish their dominance at home. So the attempt this morning is to understand the weighty call of the elder and also grow in appreciation of God’s design for the church.

So let’s try to answer: What is an elder?

An elder is a God called and qualified person appointed to feed, care and protect His flock through the authority of the Word. The goal for this leader is to help people love, trust and obey God more effectively.

Let’s look at Scripture to make sure we’re grounded in our understanding and definition of what an Elder Is and Does.

We did go through last week how God qualifies an elder. (1 Tim 3:1-7)

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer[a] must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,[b] sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

Just to touch on the topic of what it means to be God called:

V1 talks about the desire that God places on a person’s heart to pursue this ministry. And this is not a desire to become great, famous, popular and rich. Those are all wrong motivations and a person should be not be qualified if that is the motivation. The desire which is being referred to here is to see people’s lives being changed by the gospel through the faithful shepherding of the flock which results in total dependence on the sufficiency of Christ. In other words, the heart beat and passion for a pastor called and qualified by God would be to echo the words of John the Baptist “He must increase, but I must decrease”. (John 3:30) The success of this person’s ministry is not defined by how much he/his church has accomplished but on how much his church trusts and relies on God.

Just to clarify, all of us have been called by God to proclaim His excellencies (1 Pet 2:9). We all are a royal priesthood. But God does have a specific role for elders to equip and build up the church so that they can be more effective in ministering to people.

Ephesian 4:11-12: And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds[c] and teachers,[d] 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ

2) What does an Elder do? How does he equip the body for ministry?

1) Feeds the Flock
2) Cares for the Flock
3) Protects the Flock.

Let’s look at each of them in detail.

1. Elders feed the flock

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17)

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you (1 Pet 5:1-2)

The Greek word that is used for “shepherd” actually means “feed”. Essentially Peter is saying as a fellow elder he urges “shepherds/elders” to feed the flock. What should they be fed with? Not grass. But with the Word of God. Christ’s sheep needs to be nourished and nurtured with the Word of God. And that’s why the only qualification that deals with a capability from that list in 1 Tim 3 says “able to teach”. An elder spends time and energy with the Bible so that Christ’s church can be fed with the pure instruction and preaching of the Word. The seriousness of this call is humbling for me because it reminds me that if this passage is interpreted and applied correctly as it was intended, then you would be listening to not the word of man but God Himself! This “feeding” is however not restricted to a Sunday sermon but a lifestyle of discipleship. The gospel is being applied in discussions about life, work, marriage, entertainment, children, fashion, relationships, conflict, education, career etc. The elder is not expressing his opinions on these topics but is delving deep into Scripture to help people understand what God thinks about these topics and how he wants us to respond. It’s really disappointing that there are some pastors today that think that the Bible isn’t relevant anymore so they come up with sermons and teachings on the basis of worldly wisdom using verses to support their claims but denying the power and truth of Scripture. My point is…if we want to hear what the world thinks about these questions we don’t need the elder to tell us that. We’ll source that from other places. What we need to hear is what Christ wants to us to believe, desire and obey.

2 Tim 3:16: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[b] may be complete, equipped for every good work.

2. Elders care for the flock

Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,[a] not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;[b] not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. (1 Pet 5:1-3)

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,[a]which he obtained with his own blood. (Acts 20:28)

Few things we can understand from these two passages:

i) Elders care for the flock by understanding that they are overseeing the flock of Christ that He purchased with His own blood. This is as weighty as it gets. Remember earlier we talked about elders that have abused their congregation. The reason they do it is because they don’t realize that these are the very people that Christ brought out of slavery with His own blood. The flock is treated with utmost care.

ii) Elders care for the flock by being an example. This is so powerful. All of us know the impact that actions can have more than words. An elder nullifies his doctrine with an inconsistent lifestyle. The best way an elder can love and care for the church is by showing them how to love and serve Christ.

iii) Elders care for the flock by shepherding willingly and eagerly. As we’ve seen, leading and caring for Christ’s flock involves a lot of work, time and energy. All of us know of tasks that we do out of compulsion and obligation. However, Christ intends that elders joyfully and willingly embrace the responsibility. Secondly, in our flesh and self-centredness we are always looking to do things which give us some immediate returns. Christ calls elders to not do it out of shameful gain but eagerly not expecting immediate returns but the heavenly reward for those who do it well. 1 Pet 5:4 : And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

3. Elders protect the flock

Titus 1:9 : He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound[g] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

An elder needs to be gospel fluent : his understanding about the glory of God, the pre-eminence of Christ and our desperate need to trust in the sufficiency of Christ. He needs to be gospel fluent in order to preach but also to rebuke wrong doctrine.

Acts 20:29-31 : I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

In Acts 20, Paul calls the Ephesian elders to meet him at Miletus. He exhorts them before he leaves on how they need to take care of God’s flock. But look at the language he uses to describe false teachers : “fierce wolves”. These false teachers will come up among the disciples and will speak of strange twisted things in order to draw disciples after them. Again you see the connection between wrong doctrine and wrong intention. But the exhortation to the elders is that they remain alert! They can’t just allow anybody to come and teach anything. If the pure word of God is able to nourish and build up believers, then the impure, contaminated teaching would harm and destroy the believers. And elders shouldn’t allow that to take place. It’s like a shepherd allowing wolves to come and devour the lambs. Will a good shepherd allow that to happen? No. Saju narrated an incident once where a gospel singer contacted him through the website. This person claimed to have written many Christian songs and he wanted to check with Saju if he could come to the Gathering and sing his songs and share his testimony. Saju told him that he was welcome to attend our Gathering but he wouldn’t be allowed to share his testimony or sing a song because we didn’t know anything about him. Didn’t know his life or his doctrine. We couldn’t allow him to come and say anything because it could be something absolutely unbiblical which could harm the flock. Protecting the flock is one of the key responsibilities of the elder.

As we’ve all read and understood the call and the function of an elder, I pray that it does a couple of things in our hearts this morning:

1. If we’ve had negative baggage with respect to church leadership, I think this calls us to repent of those false beliefs and embrace God’s design as He’s laid down in Scripture.

2. Submit to elders in a way that is honouring to Christ. Heb 13:17: Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. What would that mean to us today? How can we make it a joy for our elders to serve and watch over our souls?

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/Jeff-170326_1117.mp3″]

If you’ve been here at the Gathering (or if you’ve been following along online) you know that we are working our way through the Pastoral Epistles as a family of churches. So Mid-cities & West County are in the same text as you are every weekend as we study 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus.

With the exception of this weekend, we’ve moved a couple of things around here @ The Gathering to accommodate for the installation this morning of Jinson Thomas as an elder.

So the text that we we’re scheduled to study this morning (1 Timothy 2:8-15) will be pushed back 2 weeks so that we can talk about “The Qualifications of an Elder” and then next weekend we can look at “What an Elder Is & Does“.

We felt like that adjustment was most appropriate given the weight & importance of installing a new elder. This is no small thing!!! And we want to celebrate that together as a family.

Alright let’s get to our text this morning- 1 Timothy 3:1-7. Before we read our text and begin the discussion of qualifications for elders let’s go to the Lord in prayer together.

So my aim this morning is simply to work through & explain the Qualifications for an Elder. What are the things that qualify a man for this position in the church? We’re going to talk about that and then save some time at the end to actually lay hands on & pray over & commission Jinson to this work.

And I should probably tell you up front that this might feel a little bit like a Bible Study at times I’m just going to be reading & explaining each verse. That’s sort of the nature of this text and I want to be as faithful as possible to the text.

Having said that let me make a few foundational statements that will help us navigate these qualifications. I remind my church all the time as I remind myself that the gospel is the set of lenses through which we’re able to understand & apply the Scriptures.

Without the gospel, without a high view of the glory of God, without an understanding that Jesus Christ is preeminent in everything, we tend to read Scripture in a way that just provides information. And that can quickly lead us to pride. And that’s the last thing we want.

So I want to take just a moment and set the stage for us. With a few foundational statements that will help us navigate a discussion about Elders in a way that most glorifies God & magnifies Jesus as the head of the church.

And that’s actually MY FIRST STATEMENT. When it comes to a discussion about church government we must understand that JESUS CHRIST IS THE HEAD OF HIS CHURCH. This is clear & undisputed in Scripture.

Colossians 1:18: “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.“

Ephesians 4:15: “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.“

Ephesians 5:23: “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.“

Elders serve as under-shepherds to THE CHIEF SHEPHERD Jesus Christ. And elders are in fact sheep themselves. That’s important to remember because humans have a long history of trying to usurp God’s leadership don’t they? And by “long history” I mean since the garden.

We tend to do things in a way that puts our hope in men & not in God. That’s how we define idolatry. And if you want a case study on that, just look at the Nation of Israel rejecting the direct leadership that God provided them as they clamored for a king. Didn’t go very well and in fact it never goes very well.

Many of you know Francis Chan he’s an author & a pastor that I respect greatly. He has an amazing quote that reminds us of the futility of being an elder specifically in the role of teaching & preaching. He said, “Preaching is like a piece of clay trying to explain to other pieces of clay what the potter is like.“

As a preaching piece of clay, I would agree with that statement. So let’s remember that Christ is the head of HIS CHURCH. But He has called certain men to bring leadership to the church under His direct leadership in a way that creates deep & abiding dependence upon Him for EVERYTHING. We have to remember that!

Here’s the SECOND STATEMENT Every member of Christ’s body(the church) are priests & ministers. This is also clear in Scripture:

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.“

Revelation 1:5-6 “Jesus Christ to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.“

Now why is it important that we highlight this? It’s important because here’s what tends to happen as the leadership of a church develops.

The body (which is all of us) can easily forget that we are all called to the work of ministry. We are all ministers. We are all His ambassadors. We are all called to love & serve & proclaim the excellencies of Jesus.

When we don’t remember that, the body will increasingly sit back and expect the “professionals” to do the work of the ministry. And then the body becomes lethargic & slow & it atrophies over time. It’s basically what has happened to me physically since I turned 40 (But that’s another topic).

Now we’re going to get into this subject more fully next weekend but a big part of an elder’s role is to equip the body (that’s you) for the work of ministry. Paul says that in Ephesians 4:11-12 “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.“

So when you install another elder the attitude isn’t, “Oh good we’re installing another elder so that’s less we have to do.” No the attitude is, “Great we’re installing another elder so that’s more equipping of the body that can take place for the ministry to which God has called The Gathering Church!” Are you all with me on that?

THIRD STATEMENT (and I want to say this as clearly as I can) even though there is a special calling placed on the life of an elder (to lead & equip) there is equality before God as children as heirs as priests as ministers. There’s EQUALITY in worth EQUALITY in value. EQUALITY IN DIGNITY & EQUALITY as image bearers of God.

This call to eldership is not a call to authoritarianism. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the way many churches have set up their elders (in an unhealthy way) has led to abuse. It’s led to a domineering attitude & a damaging of the body of Christ.

We must understand that Elders are given by God as a gift to the body for its benefit. They are not given to dominate or belittle or to stand above anyone else. Listen to the gravity of these texts:

Hebrews 13:17: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.“

Acts 20:28: “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.“

A call to eldership is not a call to dominate & bully. It’s a call to love & feed & nurture & care for. IT’S A CALL TO GREAT HUMILITY. And it helps us stay humble when we realize just how dependent we are upon Jesus Christ for absolutely everything!!!!

AND that’s where I want our hearts to go this morning. I want this discussion to drive all of us to deeper & deeper dependence upon Jesus Christ for everything. Because that’s exactly where a discussion about human leadership has to take us.

Because we are weak but He is strong. We are insufficient but He is infinitely sufficient. Where we were dead & hopeless & blind, He is THE ONE who has brought us back to life and given us sight.

You see this discussion should serve to cast a spotlight on the power & sufficiency of Jesus Christ and the beauty of His provision for us. How can it not when we’re talking about man doing something that man is not capable of doing? That must be designed by God to create greater dependency on Him.

So as I go through these qualifications for eldership let’s not for one second say in our hearts, “Man look at how awesome Jinson is!” or “Look at how awesome Saju is!” or “Look how awesome any other elder is!” Let’s instead be wowed at how awesome Jesus is!!!!! Are you guys tracking with me?

Here are the qualifications that Paul lays out for an elder in our text. There are 6 of them and I’m going to just list these up front and then I’ll go through and unpack them one-by-one.

1) Desire
2) Character
3) Ability
4) Family Leadership
5) Maturity
6) Reputation.

First Paul says that the man must ASPIRE or have a DESIRE for the office of elder. Look again at verse 1: “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.“

Now we need to be really careful to define the type of desire that Paul’s talking about. Because throughout the history of the church there have been men who have desired the wrong things and have been primarily concerned with authority and not hard work & care of the body.

I think that’s why Paul uses the language he does here. He doesn’t describe an elder in terms of office (or status) but in terms of work.

“If a man desires this TASK (this work)“. That’s really important for us to understand. Because serving in the capacity of elder isn’t about status It’s about hard work that’s fueled by a passion for the care of God’s people. It’s a passion to contend for the faith of those in your care.

That’s what Paul is pointing to here. That an elder desires to do the spiritual work of a shepherd in the church. It’s not about being esteemed or thought highly of or achieving some rank. It’s about deep humility that drives hard work.

Now I would suggest that you’ll be able to see if that type of desire is in a man. You’ll see it in the way he studies the Word You’ll see it in the way he desires to teach the Word You’ll see it in the way he commits himself to the life of a church family You’ll see it reflected in a passion for the mission of God and a passion for making disciples It will be unmistakable over time.

So that’s the FIRST QUALIFICATION. There must be a godly aspiration: a desire for the office of elder.

THE SECOND QUALIFICATION deals with a man’s CHARACTER. Now if I had to summarize this area I’d say that an elder must be characterized by a degree of godliness (or holiness in the Lord).

So the question is what does godliness look like? Well thankfully Paul gives us a really practical description of what this looks like. Look again at verses 2 & 3: “Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.“

This is a pretty straightforward list. If I had to paraphrase these things I would say that: The man must be free from scandalous sins & offensive habits that would open him up to public criticism – that’s what being above reproach looks like.

He’s marked by fidelity in marriage. I would say more specifically that his marriage is biblical: heterosexual, monogamous & pure.

He is a temperate or sober-minded man. He has a wakeful mind. He’s alert, vigilant & opposed to all kinds of excess in his life. He has self-control. That is, he has some mastery over his natural reactions.

He’s hospitable to those within and those outside of the church. He’s free from being controlled by alcohol or for that matter. He’s free from being controlled by anything other than the love of Christ.

He’s not violent but temperate. He’s not given to quarreling but is a peace-maker. He is increasingly gentle and meek and humble. And his heart is free from the love of money. In other words he understands that God owns everything and he is merely a steward of what God has entrusted to him.

Can I tell you what I love about this type of list and where it should bring our hearts? This list should drive us into deep dependence upon Jesus Christ. Because there’s no way we can do these things perfectly all the time!!!

But that’s the beauty of the gospel. And the reason why an elder must be rooted in the gospel. You see this type of lifestyle is progressive in nature. It grows over time and its growth is completely dependent upon us abiding in Jesus Christ.

You see when we look at a list like this and just try harder to live up to these standards or when we put on a mask and pretend like we have these things figured out or when we do both of those things at the same time it will only lead us further away from the heart of God.

That’s why an elder’s life cannot be marked by performing or pretending. And elder’s life MUST BE MARKED by radical dependence upon Jesus Christ to cultivate these things in his heart.

Put more plainly an elder must be defined by & saturated in & fueled by the gospel. And with every passing day he is to be marked more & more & more not by what he can do but by resting in what Jesus has done for him.

And by the way this is not just true of elders. This principle is true for all of our lives. We are (all of us) called to be increasingly “gospel fluent“.

So first is a desire, second is godly character, THE THIRD QUALIFICATION is ability. This is also found in verse 2:”An overseer must be able to teach“

Now I find it absolutely fascinating that Paul only singles out one ability for an elder in this text. He must be able to teach. Notice how he doesn’t say, “He has to be an amazing leader or he has to come from a certain class of people or be in a position of prominence in culture.” He says that he must to be able to teach.

Why would Paul single out that one thing? Well I think it has a lot to do with what I just said about the necessity of gospel fluency. You see what Paul is pointing to here is that an elder must be able to disciple other believers.

Which means that he has to be so fluent in the gospel that he’s able to give that away to others. This is why we see so many church contexts that are defined by a performance mentality it’s because they are led by elders who are rooted in performance and not gospel.

This is why we see so many churches that are marked by pretending it’s because they are led by elders who are rooted in pretending and not in the gospel.

This is why we have so many churches that are gospel light & spiritually anemic. It’s because they are not being led by men who are radically dependent upon Jesus Christ and whose hearts are being progressively transformed by the gospel. God is calling men to the office of elder who are able to teach the gospel to others.

You see when you understand that Paul is talking about the ability to disciple and teach the gospel (in all kinds of settings. Not just in the form of a sermon at a worship gathering). It makes sense why he would list this as the only ability.

Because this is the primary task that Jesus has given to the Church. “To go and make disciples of all nations, to baptize them, and to teach them obedience to everything that Jesus commanded.“

SO it makes perfect sense that the elder must be able to do that effectively because the elders help set the pace for the rest of the body in carrying out the mission that God has given the church.

So desire, character, ability. FOURTH IS FAMILY LEADERSHIP. Look again at verses 4 & 5: “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?“

Paul’s point here is very clear. If you want to know whether a man will be a good shepherd in the church, start by looking at the way he shepherd’s his family. If he’s a good leader at home chances are he’s going to be a good leader in the church.

And so how a man leads & serves his wife is very important. How a man loves his children & points them to Jesus is very important. Does he lead his family from the gospel from grace or is he harsh with them and domineering?

This cannot be understated. If a man is not pastoring his family well he’s disqualified from pastoring a church. That’s something that the church overlooks all too often. And it’s damaging to churches & it’s damaging to families.

Now I know that a common question that’s raised is, “Does an elder have to have a family in order to serve in that office?” I don’t believe he does. However, I believe that extra scrutiny should be given in these other areas for someone who is single. That’s because of how revealing this one area is.

So desire, character, ability, family leadership. And then FIFTH Maturity. Look again at verse 6: “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.“

Now it makes good sense that an elder must be mature. But to what kind of maturity is Paul referring here? Does he mean that men must be older or does he mean that they must be older in the faith?

Well I believe that it’s clear when you take into account the rest of Paul’s writings. That he is referring to spiritual maturity. I’ve met some guys in their 20’s who are incredibly mature spiritually. And I’ve met some guys in their 60’s & 70’s that I wouldn’t trust to talk to my kids about spiritual things because they have no grasp of the gospel.

The point that Paul’s making is that we cannot install a recent convert into the role of elder no matter what other abilities or qualities they have. There must be a period of testing that takes place. And that happens over time.

SO desire, character, ability, family leadership, maturity. And then FINALLY they must have a good reputation. Look again at verse 7: “Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.“

Simply put Elders must be men of integrity and that should be obvious to those outside (as well as inside) the church. Again the primary call of the church is to make disciples. To show the world what God’s love is like. And elders are to lead that charge.

And they are to lead that charge with their lives. If a man is going to shepherd the church he must do so with a life of integrity & reputation that communicates something even to the unbelieving world around him.

Even where people don’t like you because of the message you’re sharing. They cannot bring a charge against your reputation & your character.

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/19032017Jinson.mp3″]

Paul has spent the whole of the first chapter rebutting the false doctrine and contrasting it with glorious gospel. The gospel produces sound doctrine and a sound lifestyle. And now he’s showing how the gospel should infuse into the life of the church. What does that look like? We are a family that prays together! Last week as we went through the first two verses of 1 Tim 2, Saju reminded us about the importance of prayer. Prayer is meant to be the first response and not the last response when we confronted with trouble times and our own sin struggles. We learnt how:

a) The peace of God guards our hearts and minds in Christ when we pray
b) God gives us wisdom to deal with circumstances, people and sin when we pray
c) God performs miracles when we pray
d) God brings healing and deliverance when we pray.

Prayer is so essential. One other definition of prayer I thought really helped me understand and grasp the privilege we have is “Prayer is a powerful vehicle by which God accomplishes His purposes in & through our lives”. God is Sovereign and will do as He has decreed but isn’t it a great privilege to join him and participate in God’s purposes through prayer. Being adopted into God’s family, now we have the unique privilege of making requests to God and see Him answer them in His perfect way and timing. It’s personally been a good reminder for me to focus on prayer in all things.

Coming to this week’s passage, we’re going to know what to pray for and whom to pray for. We’ve learnt a great deal on what prayer is and how important it is for the Christian life. Now the next level is whom do you pray for and what do you pray for them?\

3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man[a] Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. (1 Tim 2:3-7)

1. Gospel root in prayer

3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

This week’s passage starts of with v3. When I read this verse, the first question that we should ask is “what is good and pleasing in the sight of God?” I really want to know. I want to know what’s beautiful and acceptable in the presence of God. For that we need to see the previous two verses.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

Supplications are requests made to God, prayers are earnest prayers we make for ourselves and others, intercession is coming together with other believers to make a request for God (like a conference) and thanksgiving is grateful language used for God. What he has described here is all sorts of prayers to made for whom? All people! You mean each and every type of person? Yes and yes.

He goes on to specify for whom?

for kings and all who are in high positions (v2)

Pray for the leaders, people who are in commanding positions in your life, authorities. It made me ask, who was the King at that point of time? Probably that will help in understanding this passage.

Nero was the Emperor of Rome at the time. People considered him to be a compulsive and corrupt ruler. He murdered his way to the throne. During his lifetime he executed his mother and also probably poisoned his step brother. In AD 64, most of Rome was destroyed by the Great Fire of Rome. Historians write that many Romans believed that Nero himself started the fire, in order to clear the land for his planned palatial complex.

How was he toward Christians? Very brutal. He was rumoured to have had captured Christians dipped in oil and set on fire in his garden at night as a source of light.

Now think over what the church was urged to do? Pray for Nero! And what kind of prayer was supposed to be made for kings and other authorities?

V4: who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

The prayer for Nero and other such rulers was that they may be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. What? Shouldn’t the prayer be for the protection of believers from Nero? Shouldn’t the prayers instead ask God to bring down His wrath on Nero for oppressing and brutally killing Christians?

Instead the call is that all kinds of prayers be made for Nero and the like so that they may be saved from the wrath of God that comes upon all who rebel against Him. Prayers need to be made so that they come to a full discernment of the truth about God! Doesn’t this change everything we think about whom to pray for and how to pray for them?

Why would God want us to pray this? Why does God delight in this and find pleasure in prayers made for “people like them”?

I think there are two reasons:

i) The gospel is exalted when we pray for their salvation

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man[a] Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Every time we pray for the salvation of the authorities in our lives, we re-affirm in the power of the gospel to save anybody! There is a certain conviction with which you will pray if you understood that Christ is the only one who can restore your broken relationship with God. There is “one God” not multiple gods. This list of multiple “gods” also include money, people, family, entertainment, comfort, jobs, relationships, your religious life…anything that demands more of your affection and the preoccupation of your mind is a “god”. And the Bible clearly says…there is only One God and one mediator. There is only absolutely one person who can intervene between you and God and restore that friendship – the man Christ Jesus! The Son of God (fully God), who fully became man to identify with you and then die for you to be reconciled to God. V6 says that “who gave himself as a ransom for all”. It was a willing handover of himself over to be crucified. Why did he do that? Rom 6:23 says that “the wages of sin is death”. He willingly gave himself on the cross to pay for your sins and your rebellion toward God! He died because you and I had made up these little “gods” for ourselves. We worshiped them every single day. Our thoughts would always come back to these “gods”. Our affections were turned on every time we indulged in these idols. And the heap of judgment reserved for betrayal and dishonoring of God was taken upon by the Son of God…the only person who could perfectly pay the price. The word “ransom” is used there for a reason. Ransom is something that is given in exchange for the price of freedom. Christ died so that you could be free! Set free from your slavery to sin! Slavery to these non-gods. Family, if there’s any of you who finds themselves struggling with sin, thinking there is no hope…let me remind you that Christ did not die for nothing. He died to set you completely free from the bondage to sin. So that you could worship no one or nothing else but the One true God Himself! And so when you pray for these authorities in your life…could be your parents, your boss, the PM ruling the land or anyone else, anyone who is unlike you, anyone who is cruel and harsh toward you, anyone who has done a lot of harm to you….when you pray for these individuals so that they get saved, you also with certainty affirm that Christ is powerful to save them too! And it is a true fact!

ii) God is glorified because we reflect the heart and attitude of God

who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (v4)

God intends that all people get saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. People sometimes say “Go to hell!” when they are really frustrated with someone and given up on that person. But guess what? God never says that.

Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (Ez 18:23)

For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.” (Ez 18:32)

That’s the heart of God! No matter how wicked, cruel and rebellious we are, God doesn’t delight in destroying us. He wants us to turn and repent. Does this mean that all people in the world will be saved? No, the Bible says that God has chosen people for Himself. He has elected and pre-destined people to love, worship and reflect Him. You might say “Isn’t God unjust then? Isn’t He partial?” Let me ask you, can you ever be partial to your enemy? The bible says we are “enemies of God” (Rom 5:10). None of us deserve to be saved. All of us deserve to be condemned, so who are we to say that God is being unfair?

Here’s how Wayne Grudem puts it “If God decided to save only 5 human beings out of the entire human race, it would have been a great demonstration of mercy and grace. If he had decided to save only 100 out of the entire human race, it would have been an amazing demonstration of mercy and love. But God in fact has chosen to do much more than that. He has decided to redeem out of a sinful mankind a great multitude, whom no man can number, “from every tribe and tongue and people and nation”. (Rev 5:9) This is incalculable mercy and grace, far beyond our comprehension.”

But we don’t get to decide who are the elect and who are not. That is God’s secret will that He hasn’t revealed to us. His revealed will is that “we pray for the salvation of those who are in authority”. And this is convicting to me because I would pray for the salvation for my family or friends but would hardly pray for those that oppose me. Recently I’ve been having a tough time with a client. The last thing I would want to do is pray for his salvation. I think he’s caused a lot of problems, why should I intercede for him? In my mind, I probably think he doesn’t deserve it. But that reveals the sin in my heart. In my pride and bitterness, I’m unable to see my unworthiness. What good did I ever do to deserve God? Nothing. Family, if we were to just lay bare our thought life before others, we would be totally ashamed and guilty as someone you consider to be the worst. That’s who we are. We are saturated with sin. But Christ showed us grace…abundant grace! When we pray for the salvation of those unlike us and probably who oppress us, we humbly acknowledge how God in His grace has saved us from our worthless state and anticipate that transformation in the lives of our authorities as well.

So that’s key in prayer! The gospel root in prayer. The best prayer you can pray for those in authority is not just that they govern the country well and prosper so that we will also prosper. We earnestly pray that they may come to the knowledge of truth. We make all kinds of prayers so that they repent and embrace Jesus as Lord. The best prayer you can make for PM Modi is not that he ends us being a fantastic leader or that he allows us to live in peace but that he comes to know Jesus. The best prayer I can make for my client is that he comes to the knowledge of truth.

2. Glorious fruit of prayer

For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. (v7)

In those days, tensions between Jews and Gentiles were quite bad. Jews had traditions where they wouldn’t even eat with Gentiles. Socially unacceptable! And here, Paul is appointed as a preacher and apostle to them. The point here is that Gentiles were at polar ends with respect to Jews. So unlike them, so different and yet Paul goes to them with the gospel.

Prayer drives us to action. Over a period of time as you pray for these authorities, God will create a burden for you to reach out to them. I don’t think this list is only restricted to the PM and other rulers of the state. I think it applies to authorities in your life that you don’t want to hang out with because they harm you or are against you. Preaching the gospel to them is probably the last thing on your mind. But again, prayer is a vehicle that God uses to accomplish His purposes in and through your life. So eventually if you are intensely praying for that authority, God will also open opportunities to connect with them and present this wonderful gospel. That’s where the gospel way of life is radically different from what we learn from culture or our hearts of selfishness and comfort. Selfishness and comfort will always tell us to be safe, avoid hard situations and different people. But the gospel tells us to pray and go to those who are unlike us, people who oppose us and probably harm us. And that’s when the gospel is put on display. People will want to know why we do this. Why do we love, pray and reach out to those who persecute us? We’ll get to tell them why as we share our story and His story (the gospel).

Would you pray? Would you reach out? Who is God challenging you to pray for today? Personally for you who is it hardest to pray for?

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/170312_1127.mp3″]

We are doing a series called “God Alive Church” – A journey through 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus.

Last Sunday we ended on 1 Timothy chapter one and learned how important it is to hold on to our faith and have a good conscience to protect God’s promises and the prophecies made over our lives.

In 1 Timothy 1:18-19 Timothy is instructed by Paul to wage the good warfare holding faith and a good conscience. Paul deliberately uses a military language to remind us that it’s a war that we are fighting to fulfill God’s purposes in our lives and also to protect the gospel message.

Just as it is in a war – As a child of God no matter where we are in life, God desires a single minded focus from his children – And the goal is to glorify Him.

And to fulfill that goal we need to be doing something – and that something is so simple to do but we often fail because the devil is constantly putting obstacles and distractions in way and we fail to see the simplicity of the gospel and its power to transform our lives.

Let me give an example – A lot of times the enemy makes us look so ugly because of our sinfulness, failures and inability to relate with God and the church, he make us think that all other Christians are better than us.
But if we’ve truly understood the gospel than we should know that in comparison to God’s standard of holiness we all are worst of sinners, no matter whether I’m the pastor of the church or some saint who’s given away everything to become a godly man. Imagine Paul the Apostle of Jesus in 1 Timothy 1:15 calls himself the chief of all sinners.

The grace of God views all of us in the same manner.

What matters is how each individual respond to it.
If our response to this glorious gospel is positive than it will set us free – give clarity to our thoughts and bring us out of our miserable position.

But, If our response is negative where we are continuously listening to all the lies that the devil presents us than we will never see the victories God has in stored for us.

I believe today’s passage from 1 Timothy 2:1-2 is a good reminded to us on what a good response looks like when we hit a difficult spot in life.

In 1 Timothy 1 Paul points out to the sad state of the church and the sad state of the people in the church. He mentions how people are devoting themselves to myths and endless genealogies, promoting speculations instead of trusting God & serving Him.

People having vain and fruitless discussions leading them nowhere. Listening and teaching a different doctrine other than the true doctrine of the Gospel of Christ and making a shipwreck of their faith.

He also reminds them of the simple and the glorious gospel in verses 12 to 17. He writes in verse 15 “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

After reminding them of their sad state and the truth of the Gospel, in chapter 2 he begins by saying “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

What Paul is saying is that our first response when we hit a difficult situation in life, whether in church or in our personal lives should always be Prayer & Thanksgiving.

Our First Response.

In Philippians 4:6 Paul is writing again to the church in Philippi and says “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Sadly, our very first response is always either self-pity, or judgmental. Prayer is always the last resort for us. But what Paul is saying here is that Prayer and Thanksgiving should always be our first resort.

Even though Paul is upset with the fact that people are making a shipwreck of their faith, following a wrong doctrine and talking rubbish in the church. His first reaction before dealing with it is to go on his knees and pray for them.

We too are living in times where wrong doctrine is corrupting the church, people use their position to speak whatever they want about God and the church – Some leaders have become corrupt and make unwise decisions whether in church or in the government – And we all have our own opinions about what is right and what is wrong.

The question I want to ask is how do we deal with it in our hearts? Is our very first reaction talking about them badly in front of others, pointing their mistakes and making fun of them? Or is it a genuine love that leads us to first go on your knees and pray for them.

I think it’s best to refrain from pointing fingers at others until you have genuinely spent time praying for them. Remember, that in comparison to God’s standard of holiness we are equally bad as the brother or the leader we are talking about even if we have all the checkbox clicked right. We might have got all the doctrine and theological framework right but we still are the worst of sinners and desperately in need of God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness.

If God had to react in his anger and deal with us as our sins deserve we will all be dead by now. Not just those bad politicians or dishonest leaders – We all sitting here deserve the same punishment.

And therefore Paul writes “First of all, then, I urge that supplications , prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”

Here’s why Paul is urging us to pray first.

1. When we pray the peace of God & His understanding guards our hearts & minds.

Philippians 4:6-7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

It is so easy for us to lose our peace and react in anger, self-pity or a heated disagreement when we face a difficult situation in our lives, whether it is at home with our wife and children, or it is at work with our boss and colleagues or in church with the leaders of fellow brothers and sisters.

Think of how wisely the Devil distorts our understanding of the gospel, our identity, the fallen state of mankind and the grace and mercy of God corrupting our hearts and minds.

We forget Romans 14:1 which says “As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.”

We forget 1 John 1:9 which says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”

When we pray – it allow the peace of God and his understanding to guard our hearts and minds. Pray leads us to see our own sinfulness of the heart and sets the tone right with the right understanding of the gospel.

2. When we pray God gives us the right wisdom to deal with our circumstances and people.

James 1:5-7

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord”

The tendency of our heart is always to apply our wisdom to sort the differences, address the difficult circumstances and deal with the people in our own strength and understanding even though we know that the bible teaches us in Proverbs 3:5 not to lean on our own understanding but rather trust in the Lord.

In Ephesians 6:12 Paul writes “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

All our battles are spiritual and therefore we need to go to God in pray and ask for his wisdom who gives generously to all without reproach.

In 1Timothy 2:1 Paul urges us to first pray is because he knows God will give us the right wisdom to deal with our circumstances.

We may be in a situation where we are trying to fight our battles on our own strength – Trying to prove our position right at our workplace, trying to put across our point of view to another believer, trying to manipulate others with our words to get our thing done.

Instead of trying all these we simply have to God in prayer and ask and believe that he will give us the right wisdom to deal with people and situations.

3. When we pray God performs miracle

Acts 16:25-26

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.”

James 5:17-18

“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.”

If we think we are in a situation where only a miracle can save us then it will only happen when we go on our knees and pray to God.

I deliberately used these two verses to remind you that God has control over everything; he can go to the extent of even shaking the earth and its foundations to perform a miracle for his children. Just as he is able to shake the foundations of the prison he is able to shake the foundations of your workplace, foundations of your home.

He is a God who is able to open the closed doors, close the open doors.

Yes, he is able to change people hearts and perform a miracle in each other’s lives but only when we are sincerely praying and plead with God.

Yes, he is able to change the political environment of our nation and others nations.

And there is only one reason why won’t see those miracles happen

James 4:3 “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

We need to reason with ourselves and ask what is it that we are asking and why is it that we are asking. Is it with a wrong motive? Is it to spend on our won pleasures? Is it to feed our self-ego?

In that case our prayer won’t be answered.

Our prayers should be sincere, pleasing to God and in accordance with his word and his purpose. If God has chosen a particular leader because that fits his overall purpose of bringing the nations to him than we are nobody to question that. All we can do is pray for peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness as Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2.

4. When we pray God brings healing & deliverance

James 5:16

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. “

Psalm 50:15

“And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

God not only heals the physically sick but he also heals our broken hearts, our disfigured, distorted and good for nothing lives. But it happens when we confess our sins to one another and pray for one another.

Remember, we can never win our battles in isolation – We need our brothers and sisters to stand with us and pray for our broken lives, broken hearts, sinful patterns, bad habits etc

James 5:16 says The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. A righteous man is not someone who is righteous in their own strength but it is someone who understood the gospel rightly. It is someone who’ve understood Romans 3:22 which says “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.”

Deliverance is not just deliverance from evil spirits but deliverance from sin, from sin patterns, from anxiety, from depression, from lack of faith, for feelings of failure, from hopelessness, from a weak conscience, from anger issues etc.

God promises us saying if we call upon him in the day of trouble he will deliver us and we will glorify him.
In the light of what we heard today here’s some quick applications for us to take home

No 1. Let’s pray at all times – in good times, in bad times, in happy times in sad times, in lack in abundance, in success in failure, for ourselves for our family, for our brothers for our sisters, for our leaders, for our collegues etc

No 2. Let’s refrain from talking about anyone or anything uncles we have genuinely prayed for that person or for that situation

No 3. Let’s connect and be honest with one another, sharing our struggles, confessing our sins so that we know what to pray for and how to encourage each other.

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/holding-christian-faith.mp3″]

How many of us would like to be more effective in ministry? How many of us would like to be competent soldiers in spiritual battle? You might think that this is probably something only meant for pastors and other people in ministry but as we’ll see in today’s passage this is something that’s so significant for all of us.

Just coming to the context of this passage…right before this very passage we see Paul sharing his testimony and the gospel. Why does he do that?

You remember earlier in the chapter he talks about some people preaching a false doctrine and some others using the law unlawfully. And in v10-11 he says “sound[c] doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.” In other words, sounds doctrine flows out of the gospel. And in v12-17 he goes on to define the gospel. The gospel is so critical to teaching the right doctrine. So what’s the gospel?

V15: The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

If there has to be a concise way of sharing the gospel then v15 is the way you do it. Christ Jesus came into the world: he came to us when we couldn’t reach him, to save sinners (not righteous men) of whom I am the foremost…we need to first understand the weight and punishment we deserve for our sins in order to receive the great and amazing sacrifice of Jesus.

We need to understand how we are the worst of sinners not the best of righteous. Understanding that we are the worst makes us to helplessly seek Christ and hold on to His way of salvation which is the only way we can be saved.

He then reminds Timothy about the impact of the gospel. In v12 and 13 how a blasphemer, persecutor and insolent opponent of the gospel was transformed into a faithful servant of Christ. In v16 he continues to say how through the mercy shown to Paul a persecutor of the faith, Christ wanted to display His patience to those who would believe and receive eternal life.

Unbelievers are drawn to Christ when they see the foremost and worst of sinners being saved and used by God. What unfailing love and unending mercy of God!

By doing this Paul is re-affirming the importance of guarding the purity of the gospel! It’s this gospel that saves people! It’s the pure gospel of God that can transform the worst and hardened of hearts and make them righteous, pure and holy! How is God loved and worshipped as He is? When we taste and respond to the pure gospel!

That’s how the previous passages relate to this. The gospel is crucial and critical to everything. Let’s come to today’s passage then:

This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

V18: This charge I entrust to you

What charge is he referring to? V3-4 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, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship[a] from God that is by faith.

The charge was to correct and refute the wrong teaching that was in the Ephesian church. This wrong teaching was causing a lot of harm. People were getting confused and it wasn’t helping anyone’s faith. Paul charges Timothy for specific action against these false teachers.

The reason is because God is magnified and made much of by the pure preaching of the gospel. And the false gospel simply doesn’t do that.

For example: If you consider the prosperity gospel that says “Come to Christ and He’ll make you healthy and wealthy”. And they take twist different verses to fit their understanding. How is God viewed as a result of the prosperity gospel? By this false teaching it appears like God exists for us and our fulfilment. So God isn’t ultimate, we are. God is reduced to merely a genie who does things for us. Firstly, it belittles God glory and then secondly it’s not ultimately leading you to love, trust and obey God more…it’s leading you to love, trust and obey yourself and your desires more.

That’s why it was so important for Timothy to step in there and command the false teachers to stop teaching. A real desire to see the true God being worshipped and loved is what prompted this.

Timothy, my child

Again we see that language of family being used here. We’ll see more of this in the coming chapters. It does seem that Timothy was led to the Lord by Paul during his first missionary journey in Lystra. So in that sense, he has spiritually fathered Timothy. By the second missionary journey, Timothy joins Paul as his co-worker. He’s done the job of raising him, now it’s time for Timothy to lead.

in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you

Let’s tackle two questions here. What were the prophecies made about Timothy?

Not a lot is known about the prophesy except one reference in 1 Timothy 4:14:

Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.

Two observations from this verse are that

• This prophesy had to do with Timothy’s gifting and call to ministry. The call to ministry is symbolized by the laying of hands. A pattern which means “setting apart for the work of the Lord”.
• It was confirmed by a group of elders. It wasn’t a random prophesy in isolation. It was confirmed by the council of elders.

 

Paul says “in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you”, recalling these prophesies made by the council of elders concerning Timothy’s gifting and call to ministry would strengthen him for ministry.

How do we know that?

Because the next phrase says “that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience.”

By recalling and reminding of those prophecies, Timothy could wage the good warfare, hold faith and a good conscience.

Wage the good warfare

This is totally military language. It’s the way soldiers communicate with each other. Why would Paul use this language?

• He realizes that we are in wartime. We are in the midst of spiritual battle. Eph 6 speaks about it at length but another verse that says it is also 2 Cor 10:4: For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. This is a spiritual battle that is taking place and the weapons to fight are also spiritual. We need to arm ourselves with prayer, the Word, faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s not be deceived into thinking that we are in “safe zone”. If you’re feeling too safe or comfortable, you need to ask yourself if you’re hanging around in the Enemy’s zone. We are always in wartime.

 

• To highlight the importance of having a single minded focus of pleasing God.

2 Tim 2:4: No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

Unlike civilians, a soldier has different goals. Therefore, his desires and decisions are not the same like a civilian. Comfort, safety, pleasure are not in a soldier’s dictionary because he’s concerned about pleasing his commander in charge or the country. The best illustration to use for a Christian. God desires single minded focus from His people and our aim is to please Him. Therefore, it demands a different kind of motivation and attitude toward life. Your passion and goal in life is not to make money, to get a big house, comfortable family life, enjoy and fulfil the pleasures of your heart…it’s to make God known through everything that you do. People should see Christ in the way you look and manage money, see Christ in the way you live in holiness, see Christ in the way you give generously, see Christ in the way you delight in Him and not in your pleasures.

• Persevering in the faith

12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Tim 6:12)

Family, this is critical to our understanding of God. We need to fight it out. Something that probably seemed so basic and essential when we first believed. We knew that our relationship with God involved an active participation. Somehow overtime we get lazy and passive in our faith. We cover it up with “Oh, everything is God’s Sovereign will…I don’t want to do it out of self effort”. Yes, don’t do it out of self-effort but depending on His strength to fight the good fight.

It’s like a boxer going through a very rigorous training schedule and diet for his main fight in the ring. He’s fully prepared but once he gets into the ring he just gives up and says “God’s will”. He needs to fight it out after all that preparation and training, right? Otherwise all of that was useless.

Here’s the point…I think Saju described it well last time. As you fight, you’ll realize how helpless and weak you are to do it on your own strength. You’ll run to Christ needing His help to fight through all the struggles of sin and hard circumstances in your life. But you won’t recognize how much you need Christ until you’re in the ring and fighting the fight! I love the way Paul puts it. He’s not just urging Timothy to fight but fight the good fight of faith!

holding faith and a good conscience.

Holding faith means holding on to the gospel as it was taught and not swerving from it. Good conscience comes from understanding the gospel and having a lifestyle consistent with it.

So essentially what Paul is saying is that recalling the prophecies made about Timothy should help him to wage the good war, hold faith and a good conscience. God had called Timothy to ministry and that was affirmed by the council of elders. Every time he recalled the prophecies he would’ve been strengthened to know that God has chosen him to minister. He serves God and ministers as a representative of God. He doesn’t do this all alone…God is there empowering and strengthening him.

Your question might be: “Okay, I don’t have anyone who has prophesied over me. So how can I be strengthened to minister?” Or you may say “I’m not even called to minister. How does this apply to me”?

You might not have had anyone prophesy over you or you may not feel called to ministry but Scripture already has some direct instructions for you and I.

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds[c] and teachers,[d] 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,[e] to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, (Eph 4:11-13)

Prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have been given to the church for what? To equip the saints for the work of ministry. Wow! We all have been called to ministry.

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Heb 10:24-25)

This is a clear instruction given to members of the church…consider how to stir up one another to love and good works….encouraging one another, and all the more

Let’s draw encouragement and strength from the fact that God has called us to ministry. It might look different for different people according to their gifts but nonetheless we all are called. Just imagine what your day will look like if you woke up reminding yourself of how you’ve been called by God and you have an important role to play in the building up of the church. And this role continues until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.

We are all “professional forgetters” and often the thing we forget is our identity. Our identity as people who have been called on a specific mission. The Enemy is definitely happy if he sees us coming together every week, every Sunday singing songs, listening to messages but forgetting and ignoring the call upon our lives. It’s a great call! If we forget our call, we forget that we’re in wartime, forget the gospel and in turn forget how our lives can be consistent to it.

V19-20

By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

By rejecting this (holding faith & a good conscience) – by rejecting the gospel and having a life inconsistent with the gospel these false teachers have “shipwrecked” their faith.

I think this should be a warning reminder for us. These were people who weren’t repentant and continued in their sin. The issue here wasn’t just their doctrine. It was fuelled by a sinful lifestyle causing them to shipwreck their faith. Just to clarify what happened to Hymenaeus and Alexander. “handed over to Satan” is a phrase that Paul uses to talk about being excommunicated because of persistent sin. When we look at Matt 18:15-17, we see that excommunication is the last thing that is done when the person still continues to persist in sin in spite of being confronted by the whole church. But let’s also look at the last phrase which says “that they may learn not to blaspheme”. The purpose of keeping them out is not out of animosity or any other reason but so that they might repent. There is still hope for them.

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/sermons/strength-in-weakness.mp3″]

Last Sunday we studied from 1 Timothy 1:8-11 and understood the role of God’s Law, the right view and lawful use of it in our lives.

This Sunday we will look at the next 6 verses i.e 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Read 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Verse 12 – “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service”

As Paul talks about his calling and appointment as a servant of Jesus and the preacher of the gospel he is thanking Jesus for the strength he provides him to accomplish that task, as the task set before Paul was a big one.

He is well aware that he could not accomplish that task on his own strength.

As he talks about God’s right judgement of God appointing a man like him for his service, Paul is referring to the day and time when Jesus met him on the road to Damascus.

Paul’s encounter with Jesus was an extraordinary one, wish Jesus continues to meet with radicals even in this generation.

Let’s read Paul encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus in Acts 9:1-22

In verse 22 its written about Paul (known as Saul before conversion) that “But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.”

I believe it is this strength that Paul is referring to in 1 Timothy 1:12 as he writes “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service”

Paul, as he is writing this letter to the Church in Ephesus is letting them know how much he has to depend on the strength the Lord Jesus provides him to do what He is called to do.

As a leader, I think I can to an extent identify with Paul’s statement because every time I think of my calling and the task set before me I see all my incapability’s, incompetence & short comings. And my natural tendency is to accomplish it in our own strength.

I think what we need to understand here from this verse is that we are weak people, enable to do the things God has called us to do on our strength.

Yesterday my wife Jane went out with some ladies to do follow-up with people who responded to the gospel during our evangelism time. She left at 2:30 pm and after much walking under the sun they finally found their location but had a very bad experience interacting with the family.

She came back home at around 5:30 pm and after sharing with me for a while I saw her lying down on the couch tired and exhausted. All I could see was this weak woman with no strength left to pick herself up – her physical weakness at that time reminded me of my own intellectual inability and weakness even to preparing this sermon.

Isn’t it our weakness that God uses to display his strength – In the natural we are weal people who can accomplish nothing on our own strength.

Recognizing our weakness and trusting in God’s strength is what God desires from us.

That is why Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 writes “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

This truth is not applicable only for leaders in the forefront but to every Christian believer.

When you go home today take a piece of paper and write down all your god given gifts, talents, calling, places you want to go, people you want to meet and share the gospel etc. And then plan to action it in the next couple of months.
You will start feeling the pressure – feelings of incapability, incompetency, fear, anxiety will bog you down.

In the natural world there are 2 ways of responding to these feelings

First, is to try and accomplish it on our own strength which I believe will lead you to failure eventually. You might accomplish a lot of things but will never find joy and satisfaction.

Second one the most common reaction and that is to give up and shut down which is also the easiest option.

We often forget the 3rd way of responding to those feelings and that is to trust in God’s ability to provide you with his strength to make it happen. We fail to go to God for strength.

It is during these hours that we find it difficult to put our trust in God and believe in his capabilities.

The greatest source of encouragement to trust in God’s strength and ability is to look back and remind yourself what He has already accomplished for you through Christ.

Paul goes on to write in verse 13, 14 & 15 of the greatest miracle God performed in his life.

“Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

We have to constantly remind ourselves of what God has done in our lives is Miracle.

Look at ourselves and think about our past and present lives. The sinfulness in us that manifest daily through our words, deeds and actions. Do you think we have any hope to save ourselves from the wrath of God, from the penalty of sin, from life in hell.

No way! Except for the mercy and grace of Jesus we’ve received and continue to receive everyday. The day our hearts believed in this gospel and put our trust in Jesus, God changed our lives forever.

He changed a blasphemer, persecutor, insolent opponent like Saul into Paul, the preacher of the gospel.

He changed an adulterer, lair and cheat like Saju into a holy and righteous man of God.

In verse 14 Paul writes “the grace of God OVERFLOWED for me”

To a hopeless bunch of people he gave hope.

Brothers & sisters – It is the gospel that needs to be your greatest encouragement to trust in God’s ability to see you through everything life throws at you, the hardships, the fear, feelings of incapability, incompetency etc.

Looking back at what the Lord has already accomplished for us through Christ should astonish our hearts and push us to purse him and his purposes even more.

The Bible encourage us again and again to live this kind of a lifestyle – A life trusting in God and to put our trust in him.

– Hebrews 12:29-29
– Colossians 2:6-7
– Psalms 28:7

And here’s why God chose to show us his mercy, call us out and appoint us as his servants.

1 Timothy 1:16-17 – “But I received mercy for this reason that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life”

God uses our weakness to display his strength, he uses the fool to shame the wise.

In Acts 4:13 people looked at Jesus disciples and said “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus”

God uses weak vessels like us – shows us his mercy and grace – put’s our lives on display as an example to other who are yet to believe in him for eternal life.

In the light of what’s shared todays here are three applications we can take home.

1. When you sense God’s calling over your life – the things he ask you to do. Don’t give up on yourself because of your inabilities and fear rather trust in God to provide you with strength to accomplish your calling. Because it is through your weakness he shows himself strong.

2. Draw strength and encouragement from what God has already done for your through Christ. Every day when you get up from your bed thank God for the gospel, for Jesus – draw your strength in knowing who your God is and what he is capable of doing.

3. Remember when you trust God and step out in faith he uses your life as an example to many who are yet to receive eternal life.

“The King of ages, immortal, invisible God receives the honour and glory forever and ever.

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/sermons/christian-bible-law.mp3″]

I think we need to take another look at last week’s passage to understand the context of this week’s passage.

Read 1 Timothy 1:3-7

Paul urges Timothy to command certain teachers at Ephesus to stop teaching a different, false doctrine. A few things we can learn about the wrong doctrine from v4: devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship[a] from God that is by faith.

The teachings weren’t Scriptural but spiralled and revolved around myths and endless genealogies which were causing speculations and confusion to arise in the church. Once I remember a teacher who taught on the story of the Fall in Genesis 3. He started by stating the facts, Adam and Eve ate the fruit and sin entered the world through that act.

He paused and then asked a question: What if Adam and Eve repented right after the sinful act? Would there then be a need for Christ to come to the earth? He said this and then proceeded to talk about something else. Now he was addressing teenagers and young adults. Just imagine how he would’ve harmed the faith of a lot of young adults by asking these twisted questions.

Another instance was when a preacher claimed that the Ten Commandments were inspired/copied from the rule book of an ancient Egyptian king called Hammurabi. With that one statement he belittled the authority of Scripture and made it look like it was man-made piece of fiction. Upon hearing this, the leaders of the youth group protested because we knew this wasn’t biblical.

But look at the damage it caused. The youth that were actually seeking God during this camp would’ve been terribly confused because this was what the “preacher” said. Other youth became really sceptical of these discussions because they felt that “religious” talk always ends in controversy and fights. How is this promoting the stewardship from God that is by faith?

And that’s why I totally agree with Saju’s point last week where he said that we need to pay attention and form the right doctrinal framework to discern between right teaching and wrong teaching. Only if you’ve seen and studied the original Rs. 500 note, will be able to discern that from the counterfeit Rs. 500 note.

Another learning is that if you find a preacher who constantly talks about controversial topics that is not leading you to love, trust and obey Christ, a red light should go out.

We also know from this text that wrong motives or intentions were behind this false teaching. Their false teaching was spurred and motivated by pride. How do we know that? It says “desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.”

Later on in 1 Tim 6:3 & 4, Paul says “If anyone teaches another doctrine and disagrees with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with godly teaching, 4he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and semantics, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions”

In other words, wrong doctrine always and always finds its root in wrong motivation. It’s one thing to preach stuff out of ignorance. But if you make confident assertions of things that you yourself don’t understand then there has to be a prideful motivation attached to it. In contrast, correct and sound doctrine finds its root in love, purity and sincere faith. And this will be a key theme in the book.

Coming to our main text for today:

Read 1 Timothy 1:8-11

V8: Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully

What is this law that is being spoken of? Law of the land? Law of the Country? No, this is the Mosaic Law comprising of the 10 commandments and other laws that were mentioned in the first 5 books of the Bible.

Why did God want to give people a law?

God gave people a law so that they could know Him and obey Him through it. The intention was that through the law, sinful people like you and I should understand what it would take for us to experience a relationship with a Holy God. Each of those commandments revealed a certain aspect of God’s glory and His character.

For eg: Why does it say “You shall not murder”? Because God is life.

Why does it say “You shall not bear false witness/lie”? Because God is truth.

Why does it say “You shall not commit adultery”? Because God is pure.

Therefore, the law is good for teaching. But the condition is also stated “if one uses it lawfully”. So there is a lawful way of using the law. What’s that?

1. The lawful way of using the law is to expose the sin in our lives.

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” (Rom 7:7)
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Rom 3:20)

It was to show us God’s Holy standards and in doing so expose how greatly sinful we are. In our sinfulness we may compare ourselves to each other and be comforted with the thought that we aren’t too sinful. But that’s the mistake. The standard for holiness is not us…it’s not of human origin. The standard is declared and set forth by God Himself. Because we are His creation created to reflect who He is. And sin doesn’t at all reflect the majesty and glory of God. So God gives His people the law to know what sin really is: to identify sin!

2. The law is not laid down for the just but the lawless

The law isn’t created/set for the righteous, upright and virtuous but for the lawbreakers. Imagine a country which didn’t have a law. It’s a state of utter lawlessness. Suddenly one day, a law is established. Who do you think will it affect the most? The one who abides by the law or the one who breaks the law? The one who breaks the law. Let’s look at each of these words/phrases closely:

a) Disobedient

These are words to describe someone who cannot be subjected to control. Someone who is unruly. We hear it being used in these phrases a lot: “Disobedient child or disobedient student”. Can that be described of our relationship with God? Are we easy to control? Or is there always a struggle for us to continue to be in control? When we think about these words “Master, Lord, Owner”…does it ring true about Christ in our lives or is it us?

b) Ungodly

Describes someone who is irreverent. No reverence for God. A lack of respect or seriousness for God. It’s not just talking about revering God when we are around other believers but it’s our attitude 24/7. Our zeal for God & passion to obey Him often reflect how much we respect and value God in our lives.

c) Sinners

Being devoted to sin. We are sinners not because of the sins we do, we are sinners because at the root of our hearts that’s all that we know to do.

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen 6:5)

d) Unholy and profane

These are words to describe how wicked and ungodly we can be.

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone. (Matt 15:18-20)

It’s a shocking yet true verse to read. Do you realize that the propensity to commit the most violent and horrible crimes is within you? It’s not in your environment.

e) for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers

Referring to those who murder their parents and others. 21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother[c] will be liable to judgment; whoever insults[d] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell[e] of fire. (Matt 5:21-22) Have you ever been angry at your parents? Bitter fury rage toward them? In God’s eyes, it’s as good as murder.

f) the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality

The word sexually immoral in the Greek is a broad word to include all activities of sexual promiscuity outside of marriage. 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matt 5:27, 28) In God’s eyes, if you’ve looked lustfully at someone other than your spouse you’ve committed adultery. And sexual promiscuity is being glorified in our generation. Lust is used as a substitute for love. And everything which is referred to as progressive in the media and our culture is nothing but outright adultery. Homosexuality : lying with another person of the same sex. In fact you would be ostracized and called unloving if you didn’t accept their lifestyle.

g) Enslavers: those who take people captive and sell them off

Still true of many trades in the world where they forcefully capture people and sell them off. Human trafficking industry is all about it.

h) Liars and Perjurers

Someone who speaks falsehood and perjurer is someone who swears falsely. There’s no one who can claim to have not lied. If they claim to not have lied, then that’s a lie in itself.

and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine

I find it interesting that sound/healthy doctrine is not only referred to teaching but also a lifestyle. Right through the Bible, you’ll find sound doctrine also being accompanied by Christ exalting lifestyle. But coming back to this list which is invariably the Ten Commandments and the law, how many of us can claim to have obeyed this completely on our own? Can we call ourselves “just” by our own efforts?

In fact if anything, this whole passage talking about the law and the other cross references prove that are lives are exposed because of the law. And we agree with Scripture when it says “All have fallen short of the glory of God”. (Rom 3:23)

V11 holds the key when it says “in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.”

3. The law was meant to point us to Christ.

The law wasn’t meant to be an end in itself. That’s why God gave the people sacrifices. When they looked at the law which exposed their sin and lawlessness, they had to trust on a sacrifice to make things right between them and God.

The law paves way for the gospel!

It’s the gospel of glory of the blessed God! There is good news. Christ – God’s Son, came down to earth and took the form of man. 100% God and 100% man. Where we failed in our obedience, purity, attitude and action, Christ succeeded. He lived an impeccable life. The punishment that we deserved for our outright rebellion was borne by Him on the cross. Death for sins. All our sins were nailed on the cross and three days later He rose from the grave defeating all the effects of sin, Satan and death. His sacrifice ensured that we could see God who deserves all our praise, honour and worship!

Based on how we view ourselves in the light of the law, we can find ourselves in one of two sections. Either we’re Performing or we’re Pretending. Here are the applications we can draw from this passage on the law:

1. Performing: Trying to perform in order to earn favour from God.

This can manifest in various ways. One way is thinking that by having your abiding time every day, sharing the gospel and doing other Christiany stuff, it makes you right before God. Another way is that you can get critical about other people’s faith and walk with God. You’re constantly comparing yourself with other people, pointing out their faults and feeling that you’re morally superior to them. Another way is that Bible studies, sermons and discussions with other believers are merely seen as opportunities to check or verify the other person’s theological doctrines and arguments.

If you find yourself there, let this passage remind you of how messed up you truly are apart from Christ. All our righteous deeds, theological arguments are all filthy rags without Christ. The Pharisees probably were superficially righteous but their attitudes were extremely sinful. They were great performers but their faith was rejected and hated by God. That should humble us and make us run to Christ for His perfect righteousness.

2. Pretending: Trying to hide who you truly are

You’ve seen this passage and are convicted because you know you’ve messed up. You look at that list and are burdened with the weight of your sin. You feel condemned and ashamed because of your sin. You’re always thinking what would other people do if they come to know the real you. So you resort to pretending because you think that will protect you from the shame and guilt but it doesn’t.

If you find yourself there, you’ll need to throw aside the weight of pretending and come to Christ confessing your sin and your need for Him. Remember conviction is not the goal, repentance is. Regret is not the goal, fellowship and life with Christ is. The good news is not in your sin but in Christ’s victory over your sin. The good news is not in your condemnation but in freedom from condemnation. The good news is not in shame but in a life of purpose, value and dignity found in Christ. But here also it involves humility to humbly accept what Christ has offered. So run to Christ and receive His forgiveness, hope and joy.

Last Sunday we began a new series called ‘The God Alive Church’ – a journey through 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus.

1 Timothy is a letter written by Apostle Paul who was once a persecutor of Christians, a Jew and a Roman citizen. He would kill everyone who professed the name of Jesus and followed him. He became a Christian after a real time encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and since then he’s been involved in the Kingdom work planting churches all over.

Paul is writing this letter to a young man called Timothy whom he met in Lystra, he was born to a Jewish mother who later became a Christian and a Greek father.

Since the time Timothy met Paul he he’s been travelling with him on all his trips. Paul considered him as his own son.

Timothy was sent by Paul to the church in Ephesus and we learnt the purpose of this letter was

1. Advising Timothy about issues in the church at Ephesus and to refute the false teaching that was prevalent.

False teaching is any kind of teaching..
– that isn’t rooted in the truth and takes people away from God
– that twists our beliefs and distorts our understanding of God
– that damages our relationship with Jesus
– that takes away the joy of salvation

One of the main responsibility of church leaders is to protect the truth of the Gospel from false teaching.
False teaching in Ephesus was damaging the church of Jesus and Timothy is charged by Paul to speak up and address the issue.

2. The second purpose of the letter are instructions on how church members should conduct themselves in the household of God.

Throughout 1 Timothy you will see Paul either talking about false teaching or the conduct of believers in the church.
In our passage today which is 1 Timothy 1:3-7 Paul is advising Timothy against false teaching and there are some interesting things we can learn from them.

verse 3 – Note, Paul uses a very strong word ‘Command’ when he tells Timothy to speak to the people spreading false teaching.

These people were teaching other doctrine which was not in-line with the doctrine of the true Gospel.

Their teachings were based on Myths, a traditional story concerning early history of people often based on natural or social phenomenon.

How was it harming the church?

verse 4 – These teachings were promoting empty speculations, forming theory or conjecture without firm evidence and instead of devoting themselves to Godly things they were getting involved in fruitless discussion and wasting their time and energy.

In verse 5 Paul distinguishes his teachings from the others by saying “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith”

Verse 7 – It seems that these people were not necessarily the bad guys trying to pollute the church but they themselves did not understand what they were saying or what they were insisting on. They were ignorant people.

Here are some practical lessons we can learn from this passage which can be applied to our lives.

1. Empathize with your leaders and appreciate their role in your life.

Like I said before Paul uses a very strong word ‘Command’, he is not saying to Timothy to urge them or request them to stop talking rubbish.

As you know, in today’s generation, especially in the church context commanding words are not really a cool thing to say or use. But still when it comes to the point of protecting the Gospel God wants his leaders to exercise every bit of their authority to refute and correct the person or people disrupting his church.

Think about how demanding task it is for leaders – and if we fail in doing so the bible says we are accountable to God.

Hebrews 13:17 says “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

With that in mind how do we empathize with our leaders?

Here are some things to consider:

– Pray for your leaders that they may be faithful to God and protect the Gospel message
– Thank God for their role in your life and in the life of the Church
– Submit to your leaders
– Obey your leaders
– Make their work a joy

2. Pay attention and form right doctrinal framework for yourself.

In the Ephesus church people were teaching other doctrine that was not in accordance with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As you know that the gospel is simple truth very well summarized in John 3:16

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son to die for us and whosoever believes in him will have eternal life”

The biggest tactic the enemy uses against God’s people is to confuse us by adding unwanted things to the gospel.

Sadly Christians often fall into the enemies trap because of our own negligence of not studying and rooting our believes in the truth of God’s word. Because of our own lack of not paying attention to the message of the true Gospel and failure to form the right doctrinal framework.

Darkness only creeps in when the light is not bright enough.

Our understanding of the gospel and the scriptures should be so strong that none of the wrong teachings out there should confuse us to believe in empty speculations.

Q- How much time do we dedicate in listening and learning the scriptures on a daily basis?
Q- How often do we meditate on God’s word?
Q- When we invest our time in all others activities during the day how much of importance do we give to God’s word?

2 Timothy 3:16 says “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Our failure to listen and form a right doctrinal framework will often lead us into believing the lies and empty speculations of the enemy distracting us from the purposes of God.

3. Approach with Love from pure heart, good conscience and since faith.

As Paul emphasizes in verse 5 says “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith”.

This should be our approach as children of God. We will find ourselves in unpleasant circumstances and unfruitful discussions. But as Paul writes our approach should always be Love from pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith.

A Love that is gospel driven.

In Jesus’s instructions to his disciples in Matthew 18:15-17 we can see how he stresses on the point “but he listens to you, you have gained your brother”. He is saying that if your brother repents forgive him and accept him.

Galatians 6:1
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

“Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted” also indicates that the approach should be made with a good conscience, which means we need to be walking rightly with God before we approach another brother, so that you are kept away from sinning.

1 Timothy 1:19 – “holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith”
And a faith that firm and not shaky.

4. Refrain from teaching from the word of God until you have understood the whole counsel of God.

Not necessarily these people who were saying ungodly things has wrong motive in mind. The verse says “They want to be teachers of the law, although they don’t understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on.”

Yes, it is possible for any of us to make an error while teaching from God’s word if we do not have the right understanding of the Gospel and whole counsel of God.

It is easy to read a scripture and think and talk about it completely out of context and therefore we need to super careful with our words.

And that is what Point no 2 is very important which is forming your own theological framework.

Until we have understood the whole counsel of God it is better to refrain from teaching from the word of God to others.

In conclusion, let’s bring our heart to God and allow him to convict our hearts if we have not been obedient to the things we just spoke about and let’s make a decision to follow them with all honesty and dependence on God.

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/timothy-pauls-letter.mp3″]

We are beginning a new series titled “God Alive Church”! It’s going to be exciting as we journey through 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus together as a family.

I would like to start by asking a question “Whose church is it? Who is building the church?” The question in itself might seem too simplistic or obvious but the answer is critical to understanding what our role and goal as a church is.

Jesus says in Matt 16:18: And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

It’s Jesus’ church and He is building it! That’s the starting point. Because we can very easily create a church environment which has the best music & best programs but lose out on what the church was meant to be and what was it called to do. Now how does Christ build his church? He builds it by empowering believers to submit and obey to His teachings in Scripture. That’s why these three books contain sufficient instruction and encouragement on what God desires from His church.

So we know that Paul wrote this letter to Timothy. But why did he write it? What was the purpose of writing this letter? Understanding the purpose will give us insight on what this book is really trying to say and will later on help us in applying it accurately.

Purpose:

1. To advise Timothy who was a young pastor about issues in the church at Ephesus and refute the false teaching that was prevalent (1 Tim 1:3,4)

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, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

Ephesus as a city itself was a large, multi-ethnic centre of trade, commerce and culture. Culturally Ephesus was pluralistic in every way. Many ethnic and cultural backgrounds were represented, and religious pluralism was entrenched and embraced. Moral beliefs, like religious ones, were diverse, and considerable moral depravity was accepted, perhaps considerably more so than in our modern culture.

You could imagine how this was also affecting the church. So there were these false teachers that were teaching a doctrine that was contrary to the sound doctrine of Scripture. Now why is it such a big deal?

a) False doctrine (by definition) isn’t rooted in truth and takes people away from God. It twists our beliefs and distorts our understanding of God. (1 Tim 6:21)

b) False doctrine results in sinful lifestyle. Through the letters of 1 Tim, 2 Tim and Titus we understand that false teachers always reflect their wrong doctrine through their sinful lifestyle. Greed, arrogance and a craving for controversies. Their doctrine is an outlet to justify their sinful desires. Why? Because they aren’t looking to please God anyway so they end up pleasing themselves.

Now this is damaging to the church! What would happen if false teachers were allowed to have their way in a church? It will distort people’s understanding of God and will cause them to swerve from the faith. It will also result in sinful living. And remember this is God’s church…God’s family that he redeemed through His Son. Can we allow them to be destroyed through the snare of false teaching?

As a parent if you are aware of a person who will cause harm to your kid – either physically or mentally, would you allow your kid to interact with him? No, absolutely not. That’s why Christ has appointed elders for the church. Not just to feed the sheep but to also protect the flock of God from false teaching.

And it’s amazing to see Paul’s fervour for the purity of sound doctrine. May our hearts be so in love and in tune with Christ and His Word that we would also share His passion in seeing people be fed with the pure Word of God.

2. To instruct them on how should members conduct themselves in the household of God (1 Tim 3:14, 15)
I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

Another key theme that we see in 1 Timothy is “church is the family of God”. Through Christ’s life, death and resurrection we have been adopted as sons and daughters in God’s family! Isn’t it so wonderful? Since we are members of God’s family, how are we to relate with each other? Do we have different roles and responsibilities in this family? How are we to take care of each other’s needs? How are we representing God’s family to the outside world?

How are we to conduct ourselves for corporate worship? These and many more questions about organizing ourselves in God’s family are addressed in this letter. Sometimes these 3 letters are just thought of as only Pastoral Letters (Letters for Pastors). However when we look at these topics pertaining to our life as a church then we learn that this applies to the entire church not just the pastors.

Even though a lot of these applications will come out in the coming weeks, let’s start out this week by seeing and embracing each other as co-members of God’s family. I think we do a good job of defining church as not a building but we still turn it into an event. Church is the family of God! We are not members of different families who come together to socialize on Sunday. We are members of one family in Christ.

I like the way v15 ends by saying “household of God, which is the church of the living God”! Consider the weight of that phrase. This is the “church of the living God”. Now that we’ve established that church is not a building, it’s not an event but the family of God, so what would it mean to be a family of the living God? When people interact with us, do they sense that God is alive in us?

Can that be the testimony of our Sunday Gatherings and GC’s? I think this verse is an excellent reminder of our identity and call. Our identity of being the church of the living God is not merely emotional expressions on a Sunday but a lifestyle of obedience to Christ. And our call: we are a pillar and buttress of truth! We are called to be sharers and protectors of the gospel!

For our brief exposition of the first two verses in 1 Tim 1:1-2

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.

Why does Paul start this letter by mentioning that he is an ambassador of the gospel?

a) Paul wasn’t trying to show off his title. Firstly, they were part of a generation where any kind of association with Christ and the gospel invited persecution. Secondly, apostle meant that you’ve witnessed the risen Christ and have been personally sent and commissioned by Christ. Not the way in which people refer to themselves as “Apostle so and so” these days.

b) Since the letter is an instruction and encouragement, this could be a way by which he’s trying to say that these words and instructions are to be considered seriously because it’s been approved by God. On the basis of his authority from God, he charges Timothy with this task and provide general charge for Christians.

Why does Paul refer to God the Father as God our Saviour and Christ as Christ our hope?

Two very interesting attributes are mentioned here. The first is God our Saviour. Why does God reveal Himself as God who saves? In Luke 1:46, 47 in Mary’s song of praise: she exalts God by singing “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour”. Throughout history God has always revealed Himself as a saving, delivering God. The Israelites understood first hand that whenever they would fall into the hands of their enemies. In their trouble and misery they would cry out to God and He would deliver them. Another way of understanding this characteristic is by the word “Preserver”.

God preserves and protects His people! Okay, so I get how God delivers and saves people from their enemies or when they’re in trouble but what if the people themselves rebel against God? What if people themselves reject God through their words, attitudes and actions? They communicate that they don’t need God; they don’t prefer God above everyone else and everything else. “God I don’t need you during every single moment of my life, I just need you when I’m in trouble. I need you for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning. I want to live my life on my terms for the most part.

I’ve got other things and people that pre-occupy my mind. They are more beautiful and wonderful to me than you. They are my gods that rule me throughout the week. My desire for money is greater than you. My desire for sexual fulfilment is more pleasurable than you. My desire for people’s admiration and appreciation is more important than you. God I don’t really need you.”

And having a love for other things and preferring them above God is a serious crime!

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Rom 1:21-25)

So God in His holiness can’t tolerate this. His wrath is poured out on all who have worshipped the creature rather than the Creator! All of us are fully and totally guilty of this. Our lives are marred with this sin of rebellion. Can God really save us if we turn against our Savior?

Ephesians 1:4, 5: Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will.

God loves and He sends His Son to absorb the wrath that was meant for us. Through that precious sacrifice of God we are Saved! Three days after dying for us Christ is raised so that all who believe and put our faith in Christ are now adopted as God’s children. How amazing is this truth?

God is our Saviour who saves us from the worst thing that can come upon us: His wrath for our sins. And He saves us through Christ our Hope: our trust in Christ is not blind anticipation but an assured confidence in who Christ is (Son of God) and what He Has done (completely taken away the punishment that we deserved and now brought us to God).

Why does Paul describe Timothy as his true child in the faith?

Paul would’ve probably led him to faith on his first missionary journey to Lystra. At the second visit, Paul invited Timothy to join him on his missionary travels. Timothy was a faithful, trusted and effective co-worker in ministry.

Paul spoke highly of him to the Philippian church and named him as the co-sender of 6 of his letters. Not only does this once again highlight the family of God but it also reminds us to invest in discipling relationships where we would be able to raise up spiritual children who would someday lead, care and protect others. And it’s a great model for us. All of his lessons weren’t taught in just weekly meetings. A lot of the learning happened as they were on mission together. Timothy saw Paul’s life up and close.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Some definitions of the three words are:

Grace is receiving favour that we don’t deserve which is central to God’s gift of salvation to those who trust in him. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Eph 2:8) It is also the essence of the “gifts” that we received from the Holy Spirit to minister to each other (1 Corinthians 15:10): But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of.

Mercy is withholding the judgment that we deserve. It is also what God responds with when we ask for His help. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

Peace is not just a lack of anxiety but it’s a state of one’s soul assured of salvation through Christ and so fearing nothing from God and content with whatever position and circumstance God places us in.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)

Even though this is a common greeting in NT letters, but I think there is a reason why the writers mention this in the letters. All these come from God. They are all precious gifts from God. And more than anything that he would want to share with his son in the faith and co-worker in the Lord was to share and desire these three things for Timothy.