1 Timothy Series - Part 3

“The Titanic Revisited”

1 Timothy 1:18 – 2:7 (Message #3 in 1 Timothy Series)

INTRODUCTION:

            In the past thirty-five years there has been a great deal of interest in the story of the RMS Titanic, the luxurious British passenger liner that was touted as being “unsinkable,” but that on the night of 15 April 1912 sank in the North Atlantic Ocean after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to NY City, taking 1,517 people to their deaths.

            For many years she was lost, having sunk in waters some 2½ miles deep. However, on 1 September 1985, almost 25 years to the day after the approximate site of the wreck was finally located, an expedition to the ocean floor led by Robert Ballard, an oceanographer and former Navy captain, was able to transmit images of history’s most famous shipwreck. Many of us can still remember that day as the ghostly images of the doomed ship on the ocean floor flashed across our TV sets, holding millions of people spellbound.

TRANSITION:

            I love old books and I have several that I treasure. One of them is a first edition that my father gave me. It was printed within weeks of the sinking of the Titanic, giving fascinating details taken from eyewitness accounts while the memories were still very fresh in the survivors’ minds.

MAIN BODY:

Verses 18-19: This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, ¹⁹ keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. 

• Paul had known Timothy for many years already and had almost certainly been instrumental in leading Timothy’s mother and grandmother to Christ. Moreover, he had served as Timothy’s spiritual mentor, taking the young man with him on several of his missionary journeys and exposing him to every aspect of ministry. So close were they that Paul felt like a spiritual father to Timothy, and regarded the younger man as his son. Thus, in Paul’s letters to him he addresses him as such a number of times, emphasizing the loving relationship that existed between them.
• “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son…” What command? In this case the command is yet to come in the last part of the verse. But before we look at that I want us to examine this word “entrust.” This is one of Paul’s favourite words. He has already used it once in this chapter, up in verse 11, and it appears many times throughout the Pastoral Epistles. In verse 11 Paul speaks of “…the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.” Paul recognized that the Gospel is a precious, costly gift from God and must be defended and protected. He also recognized that he had been given the awesome privilege and responsibility of sharing that life-giving Gospel with unsaved people everywhere. Later in this letter, in 6:20, Paul impresses upon Timothy the fact that he has been entrusted with the very same Gospel and should take great pains to guard it. Paul writes: “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you…” He is speaking of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, here in verse 18 of chapter 1 Paul is referring to something more specific. He is telling Timothy to value and treasure in his mind and memory the prophecies that were spoken over him when he was ordained and commissioned. Apparently on that occasion there were godly prophets present who predicted that Timothy would be greatly used of God in the future and would one day have a significant leadership role in the Church.
• Paul is bringing this to Timothy’s remembrance and urging him to continue to “…fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience.” The KJV says, “…wage the good warfare.” The word Paul uses does not mean a battle but a campaign. A battle is a single event. The Christian life is a long-term campaign, a siege. Anybody can fight a battle. Paul is trying to prepare Timothy for the long-haul warfare that he will have to wage against God’s enemies. Some of those enemies are in the spirit realm, while others are in the form of people who rise up to attack the work of God.
• “…which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.” Did you know that a person’s faith can suffer “shipwreck”? I would guess that every single one of us can think of at least one person who in the past claimed to be a child of God and was active in the church, leading everyone to assume that he/she was a genuine believer and very dedicated to Christ. Then something happened, and now that person has apparently abandoned the faith and shows no interest whatsoever in the things of God. How do you explain that? That is what Paul is talking about when he says that some have suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. But look at the rest of the phrase— “…which some have rejected.” What exactly have they rejected? In context Paul mentions three things: “fighting the good fight, keeping faith, and keeping a good conscience.” I already said something about this first phrase, “fighting the good [noble, pure, honourable] campaign.” But what does it mean to “keep faith”? It means to hold onto the truth even though the whole world disagrees. The Gospel includes both the aspects of believing the truth, and also obeying and living out the truth. Which leads us to the third command—“…keeping a good conscience.” If we turn away from obeying God we always do injury to our conscience. To violate your conscience for very long will lead you to change your belief system so that you can live with yourself. That is why we say that sin is a slippery slope. Paul is warning us against reshaping our doctrine to fit our sinful practices, then proceeding to teach a false doctrine that no longer cramps our style. That is a sure-fire formula for spiritual shipwreck! 

Verse 20: Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. 

• “To blaspheme” means to speak or act in a dishonouring way against God or God’s work, and refers to any violation of the Third Commandment, any light and sinful use of God’s name. Paul says that these two men were doing exactly that by their speaking against the leaders and doctrines of Christ’s Church. We know next to nothing about these two guys who Paul mentions by name, although this is probably the same Alexander spoken of in 2 Timothy 4:14 where Paul observes, “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.” And Hymenaeus is mentioned in 2 Timothy 2:17-18 where Paul tells Timothy, “But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.” So in Paul’s mind these two professing believers are examples of people whose spiritual lives have ended up being shipwrecked. Now Paul knew something about being shipwrecked.  According to his testimony in 2 Corinthians 11 coupled with the story at the end of the Book of Acts about his sea journey to Rome, Paul experienced being shipwrecked 4 times over the course of his ministry. He knew what he was talking about.
• “…whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.” What does he mean by that? To understand it we need to see how he uses that phrase in other places. For example, in 1 Corinthians 5:5 he says the same thing about a man in the Corinthian church who was living openly in immorality, yet the elders of the church refused to do anything about it. So, Paul wrote, “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.  ² And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?  ³ For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this.  ⁴ So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, ⁵ hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” Paul was telling Timothy that these two men, Hymenaeus and Alexander, just like the man in Corinth, should be excluded from the fellowship of the congregation so that they might repent and abandon their evil ways. The reference is to church discipline (cf. Matt. 18:17). Paul’s purpose was not punitive but curative, to cause these men to see the error of their ways and return to the Lord. Failing that, he knows that their lives will be just like the Titanic, headed for the bottom and for destruction.
• The Church of Jesus Christ is like a big tent, and serves as a kind of sanctuary from Satan’s power and direct influence. Out there in the world Satan is king. So Paul says, “Throw these guys out of the tent and let the devil chew on them for a while. Then maybe they will come to their senses and realize what they are missing.” 

Chapter 2:1-2: First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, ² for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 

• So in the preceding verses Paul has been describing the forces that try to tear down the church.  Now he turns his focus to talk about the things that will build up the church. Here in 2:1 Paul uses four different synonyms for prayer—entreaties, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings.  He says that all of these should be offered up on behalf of all men but especially for kings and other authority figures.
• So what are the differences between these four kinds of prayers?
• The word “entreaties” refers to asking on behalf of our personal needs.
• “Prayers” is the normal and most commonly used word for prayer in the NT and always refers to prayers directed toward God in reverence and worship.
• “Petitions” are intercessions on behalf of others as we bring their needs before God’s throne of grace.
• “Thanksgivings” speaks to the attitude that should permeate all kinds of prayers; namely, an attitude of gratefulness and praise to God for all that He has done for us.
• “…so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” This is interesting in that the Emperor in Rome at that time was none other than old “Crazy-pants Nero,” one of the bloodiest, and cruellest leaders in Rome’s whole history. And yet, Paul tells Timothy that he and other Christians should pray for Nero “so that they might lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” Was he nuts? What was he thinking? Well, first of all we should pray for our leaders because their actions and policies affect society as a whole. Secondly, if they do not know Christ then they are as eternally lost as anyone else, despite their power and influence. In this next verse Paul reminds Timothy that God wants all men to be saved, even a man like Nero.

Verses 3-4: This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

• “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God…” What exactly? Praying and interceding for others, including unbelievers. According to 1 Peter 2:9 you and I are called to be priests. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” Did you get that? “A royal [kingly] priesthood.” And what do priests do? They intercede before God on behalf of other people, which is exactly what you and I are called to do, for all people, including the most obnoxious people that we cannot stand to be around. 
• “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” This phrase has been the cause of many theological debates because people say, “If it is true that God really wants everybody to be saved then why are there still unsaved people running around who reject His offer of salvation and thumb their noses at Him in every way possible?” That is because universal salvation is not the determinative will of God by which He rules the universe. Now this is where we get into some sticky theology. But perhaps the best way to clarify it is to point out the difference between the concepts of “wishing” and “willing.” From the day when God created man in His own image and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden, it was his “wish” that they would remain faithful and obedient to Him. However, He created them with free will and they used it against Him, which grieved Him and made it necessary for Him to set in motion the Plan of Salvation involving the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. On the other hand, there are occasions in the Scriptures where we see God exercising His sovereign “will,” and nothing in the world can stand against that. When God wills to do something, it gets done! In the case of this verse, it is God’s wish, His desire that all men would come freely to drink from the fountain of salvation, but He does not force them. He does not exercise His “will” to force men to be saved, because that would violate the system He set in motion. To be saved men have to respond to God in faith, confessing Jesus as their Saviour and Lord.

Verses 5-6: For there is one God, and one Mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 

• This verse is hugely important! It tells us that there is only one who stands between us and Almighty God, and it is not a priest, or a preacher, or Mary, or the saints, or angels—no, it is Christ, and Christ alone. He is the only Mediator. Moreover, He is the One who gave His life as a sacrifice for us. This word “ransom” is the Greek word, antilutron, made up of anti- (a preposition meaning substitution) and the noun, lutron, (meaning the ransom of a slave). When put together it means a payment given instead of a slave—that is, in substitution for him or her. The person holding the slave accepts the payment as a substitute. Paul describes this in Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us.” We were slaves to sin and thus stood condemned. Only Christ, the sinless Son of God, could pay the price to release us from that bondage.

Verse 7: For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 

• “For this” meaning for the proclamation of this glorious message. Paul uses three different words to describe his calling:
• “I was appointed a preacher” – The word means a herald, a proclaimer of a message. In 1 Cor. 1:21 Paul tells us, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” 
• “I was appointed an apostle” – This word means an envoy or an ambassador, commissioned by a sovereign king with a message and authority to declare that message.  But in a sense every Christian is called to an apostolic ministry. In 2 Corinthians 5:20 Paul says, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” 
• “I was appointed a teacher” – A teacher instructs people in things that are true. You and I are also called to be teachers of the truth. In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus commanded us, “Go ye into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching to obey all that I have commanded you.” We accomplish that teaching task by instructing people in the truth and by modelling the truth in our own personal lives.

CONCLUSION:

            There are many things in this text that are of great importance. I do not have time to go into all of them but let me quickly recap four that I see:

1. The Christian life is not a sprint, but a marathon. We need to prepare and train ourselves for a long-engagement. We need to KNOW the truth and also PRACTICE the truth so that we do not end up on a spiritual reef or sandbar somewhere, shipwrecked in our faith and useless to the Kingdom of God.
2. Paul’s statement about Christ being the Only Mediator between us and God flies directly in the face of one of the most sacred teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and virtually every other religion on the planet. Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me,” and He was not just joking around when He said it. There is no other WAY to God. Jesus is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. Acts 4:12 clearly states, “There is salvation in no one else.” 
3. In this text Paul names the individuals who were creating problems in that local church. He was more concerned for the health of the Body than he was for the feelings of any individual. We too need to learn that lesson.
4. I think we need to ask God every day to show us how precious lost people really are to Him. The heart of God is evangelistic to the max! If we are not moved by the lost condition of people around us, then we have no clue what God is really like. He ”desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” The question is… do we? Really? And exactly what are we prepared to do about it?