1 Timothy Message 4
A. Introduction of the Epistle 1:1-2
1. Identification.
a. The writer – Paul identified himself and then his position presenting –
b. The recipient is Timothy. “Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith.”
2. Intercession: “…our hope…” Our expected end

1 Timothy 1:2b “…Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.” God has prepared us by providing for us –
a. Grace, Living grace needed for each day.

2 Corinthians 4:7-16 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; ……that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

b. Mercy, Paul realized the mercy of God in his own life and commended the same to Timothy –
c. Peace, that which only can come from God.

B. Charges to Timothy 1 Timothy 1:3 – 6:21a

Now that he knows he has the presence of God providing him with grace, mercy, and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ, Timothy was to make a –

1. Commitment to right Doctrine 1:3-10
a. The Purpose (What)
b. The Priority (How) Confront sin with truth and love!

Paul recognized the dangers the church would face:

Acts 20:25-30 And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Why was it so important that Timothy stood up to the false teachers? It is because of –

c. The Perversion of truth (Why)

Note: The believer, who is no longer under condemnation, and the law being completely fulfilled in all points by the Lord Jesus Christ, still needs the law to reveal to him sin, its presence, practice, and consequences.
No one was ever saved by keeping the law, yet the believer must know what God hates. The false teachers had blurred the line between truth and lies, making excuses for sinful actions to be ignored and even, over time, accepted. The false teachers had known the truth, but not desiring to confront sin, began to teach as Satan had in the beginning – “Hath God said…” calling God’s Word into question.

“…desiring to be teachers of the law…” they wanted to explain the meaning but did not understand it themselves. They did not teach with the authority of God, but with the mindset of man as to not offend anyone!

How many of us have heard the world’s reasoning that –

God will be pleased with you as long as you are sincere,
There are times that you must tell a lie, it is the only right thing to do,
There are times that you can take that which does not belong to you, because you are owed more than you were given,
There are times that culture must be accepted: profanity spewing forth out of mouths, disrespect of Godly parents, murder (which according to the Lord’s teachings includes anger and rage), men and women having sexual relationships before marriage and with those that are not their spouse, homosexual activity and worse, engaging in slavery, swearing by the name of God to a thing that is not true.
The list of ungodly actions is continuing to be developed as sin gets worse and worse, and the acceptance of these sins is declared by the world –

Isaiah the prophet warned of this hundreds of years before Paul’s warning to Timothy –

Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
They have rejected the truth, using their imaginations to explain how that evil is not evil, but it is good and should be accepted!

Which brings us to Paul’s declaration on what was happening in the church –
1 Timothy 1:6-10a From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man,

Notice how Paul revealed the false teachings by comparing them with the Ten Commandments –

1). The Commandments in relation of man to God.

Exodus 20:1-11 And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Paul identified those who rejected this part of the Law –

1 Timothy 1:9a Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane

Paul then identified those who rejected –

2). The Commandments in relation of man to man. 1

Exodus 20:12-17 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Paul explained how the law warned those who would be –

Timothy 1:9a-10 “…. murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

Note: These false teachers did not understand the purpose of the law!

When the teaching is wrong, people become confused and begin to question the very purpose of what is being taught.

When we compare the church with the world, we find that there is very little difference. The church wants the world to be comfortable and so has changed the preaching of the world to conform to the teaching of the world. We then
compare the church with the Word of God we find there is a great difference, which the Apostles warned of even in their day!

We are again reminded of the words of the Devil to Eve –

Genesis 3:1-5 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

This same attitude affected the content of what was being taught in Ephesus and is taught in churches today with the false preachers and teachers saying –

God will not judge people because God loves them.
God will not send anyone to Hell because He loves them too much.
God will ignore the profane words of people today – it is normal and everyone says these words. It is just real life – the way people talk.
God no longer cares about boys and girls having sexual relationships before marriage, husbands and wives having sexual relationships with others in their marriage, and homosexual relationships – men with men and women with women. These are all accepted today by society and the church should not say it is wrong. What people do is their business!

Paul commanded Timothy to preach against these false teaching and with that command, we are commanded to preach against these false teachings also!

We are to stand against these false teachers because we know the truth and desire that they repent and turn to God.

We know that –

Condemnation is upon those that are not believers and they are just acting like what they are, unholy and ungodly people who need to be saved.

Chastisement is coming to the believers who teach or follow false doctrine. God will correct them in this life.

Knowing what condemnation and chastisement are, we should care for those in need of the truth and tell them.

Do you believe these things are okay, acceptable with God? You are wrong and need to trust the Word of God to warn of false teaching.