A
Study of 1 Timothy
Fight
the Good Fight
1
Timothy 1 :15-20 SCC 10/28/12
FIGHT
THE GOOD FIGHT OF THE GOSPEL
Verse 15: "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all
acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."
Five times in the Pastoral Epistles the little phrase "this is a faithful
saying" appears. It indicates a familiar saying that had already developed
in the early church. It isn't something that Paul is saying for the first time,
but something he is quoting that he knew everyone knew as a trustworthy saying.
There were some creeds and some hymns and some faithful sayings, some
trustworthy sayings that were really a summary of some great truth.
There
are five of them in the Pastoral Epistles. Two of those five have the statement
added "worthy". They are
summaries of very key important doctrines, which should be believed, should be
affirmed, and should be accepted. The summary statement acts as a condensed
articulation of the gospel. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Every word is chosen carefully. Christ Jesus is often the order used in these
books. It was the glorified Christ, the exalted Christ, and the reigning Christ
that Paul met on the Damascus Road before he knew it was also Jesus of
Nazareth. Whereas the other New Testament writers who were His disciples, who
knew Him first as Jesus, and then came to know that He was the Messiah, prefer the
description, Jesus Christ.
Bound
up in those two terms is all that He is. He is the anointed King, He is the
one who came to redeem. He is the one who became the earthly Jesus in His
incarnation.
Also the statement says He came into
the world. It does not say He came into existence. It does not say He was
created. It does not say He was made. It implies not only His incarnation but
also His preexistence. He came into the world. He was somewhere else and He
came into the world, the preincarnate Christ. The
world has to do with our sphere of existence, the Earth, but more than that it
speaks of the world of men, the world of mankind, the world of humanity, the
human race, blind and lost and condemned and damned to hell, hostile to God,
engulfed in fallenness and evil. It is that world to
which He came, the world of sinners, the realm of unbelief and hostility toward
God, the world of darkness.
It very
specifically says that, "Christ
Jesus came into the world to save." To rescue is the implication and to
deliver out of darkness and death into life. The very purpose that God had in
mind was redemption of sinners. He really believed he was the world's worst
sinner. In 1 Corinthians 15:9 he says "I am the least of the Apostles, I am not
fit to be called an Apostle...here's the reason...I persecuted the church of
God." In Ephesians 3:8,
he says, "I am less than the least of all saints." He believed it.
FIGHT
THE GOOD FIGHT OF MERCY IN CHRIST
Verse 16: That was a healthy
self-view for Paul because it was accurate and that's the basis of the purpose
of his salvation. "Nevertheless, for
this cause I obtained mercy." What cause? Because I was so wretched a
sinner, because I was so rotten and so vile and because I was the worst sinner
alive, I received mercy. Why does God save the worst sinner? "In order that in me first or me
foremost Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering or patience."
Why did God saved Paul? You say, "To keep him out of hell." No, that
was a benefit. You say, "To get him in to heaven." No that was a
benefit. You say, "To have him write the epistles." No, He could have
anybody do that. "To preach." No, He could have anybody do that. "Well
why did He save Paul?" Because God wanted to save the world's worst
Christian...the world's worst pagan and make him the world's greatest
Christian. Why? To show the power of grace and to put Himself
on display. God's willingness to endure the insults and the blasphemies
and the rejection and the sins of men like Paul show how great His grace is,
how magnanimous His mercy is.
Verse 17: And that's why we have
in the response to grace, "Now unto the King eternal," literally the
king of the ages. The supremely sovereign one, immortal, that is imperishable,
incorruptible, no death, decay or loss of strength, the invisible one known
only by self-revelation for He cannot be seen by eyes nor heard by ears, only
when He's self-revealed can He be known. The only God...the only God to Him be
honor and glory forever and ever. And then he adds...Amen. Which means let it
be said, let it be said.
FIGHT
THE GOOD FIGHT OF TRUTH
Verse 18: The warfare of which
Paul speaks has at its highest level a tremendous conflict between God and
Satan. That is the primary level of the warfare. Everything else in a sense
comes under that. It is a war of the Lord God Jehovah and His truth against
Satan and his lies. It is a war between God and His will and Satan and his will.
And such a war is not only fought between God and Satan but between demons and
holy angels and between ungodly men and godly men so that this cosmic warfare
at the level of God and the highest creature He ever made, Lucifer, filters all
the way down to involve every human being, including us.
First the command.
The word "charge" is "command." It refers to a military
command. It's used in chapter 1 in that way and it's used here that way. It is
not something that is discussed; it is something that is given as an order to
be carried out. Timothy is under military obligation.
Second a commission. I ‘entrust’ you
with this. Paul gave to Timothy a valued deposit. What was it? It was a deposit
of truth. It was a deposit of truth which is more valuable than anything. Second Timothy 2:2,
"The things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, the same
entrust to faithful men." I entrusted it to you, you keep it and entrust
it to others. He repeatedly told Timothy to keep care of that sacred trust.
Third a confirmation to live
up to. Now this command and this commission, this calling of Timothy
was confirmed through prophecies. They finally
culminated in 4:14, "Neglect not the gift that's in you, given you by
prophecy," In other words, God gave that gift to Timothy, and then
articulated that gift through the prophecies and then confirmed it by the
laying on of hands on Timothy as an act of confirmation by the elders.
FIGHT
THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH
Verse 19: In order for us to win
the war we have to know our responsibility and accountability to the Lord and
Paul puts these two things together throughout this epistle. The first one,
"having faith," means believing in the truth, holding faith in the
faith. We could say it means commitment to believing the truth of God. Our
obligation to the Lord in the fulfillment of our ministry is to stay true to
the Word of God and then to have a good conscience. And a good conscience
simply means a conscience that is pure, a conscience that is undefiled. It's a
conscience void of offense toward God. It's a satisfied conscience, a
conscience at rest, and a conscience that says all things are well.
FIGHT
THE GOOD FIGHT OF DISCIPLINE
Verse 20: Delivered unto Satan. Satan, the enemy of God, the hater of
good, liar, murderer, demon, leader of demonic forces, despiser of Christ, who
lives to destroy all that God designs and will be consigned ultimately to the
Lake of Fire to be tormented forever, Satan, that maker of perverts, that maker
of madmen and criminals, devastator of families, creator of chaos, to be turned
over to him is indeed a terrifying thought. Who then are those that are turned over to Satan? To be
turned over to Satan then is to take that believer or that unbeliever who is in
the family of the redeemed, at least outwardly, and push them out into the full
fury of Satan's world. Some people by God's design and sovereign purpose
are thrust out of the protected place of the church into the Satanic
dimension.
Paul
instructs Timothy in this first chapter that he's going to have to do that with
certain people in the church at Ephesus where he is now located. Paul
says I set the example, in verse 20, because I took Hymenaeus
and Alexander and I put them out, I delivered them over to Satan that they
might be literally, physically trained, or physically punished for their
blasphemy. Now that's the pattern for what I want you to do. The church
is a wonderful haven, a place of protection for believers. It is even a
place where unbelievers can come and find a certain amount of haven from the
fury of Satan. But also that for God's own purposes
there are times and there are people who are thrown out into Satan's domain.
So,
there are those within the protected community who can be turned over to Satan
not for the sake of teaching some great truth, not for the sake of maintaining
humility, not for the sake of strengthening others, not for the sake of gaining
reward, not for the sake of eternal praise, but for the sake of judgment. What
is he saying here when he says, "I
have delivered Hymenaeus and Alexander unto Satan?"
Most likely they were not believers because they had corrupted the
gospel. And he delivered them that they might learn the consequence of
blasphemy. Now we don't know whether it meant they would die or whether
it meant some disease or the devastation of their possessions or the loss of
everything they had, whatever devastation Satan wanted to bring within God's
allowance would come.
Now
when he says, "Whom I have delivered
unto Satan," he means I put them out of the church. I put those
sinning people away from the protection and insulation of God's people. I
put them in the domain of the devil, away from the influences of all that is
good and godly. Why? That they may learn that you
can't blaspheme and get away with it. Anything that you do that disobeys
God is blasphemy. Anything you say that speaks evil against God is
blasphemy. And any blasphemy needs discipline. But they were turned over
to Satan to be punished as a lesson that you can't blaspheme, a lesson to them
and a lesson to everybody else. Blaspheme means to slander God, to
ridicule God.
1. The essence of the gospel is to deliver sinners from their sin. It is bad news before it is good news. The bad news makes it good news.
2. God patience with us as sinners means he can be merciful to us in Jesus Christ. This mercy, once grasped, is the basis of our praise and worship.
3. Since we are here to fight it must be a good fight. A good fight is a spiritual fight committed to truth, faith, and discipline, not politics or social outcomes.