May 12, 2025 • 52 mins
In this episode, Pastor Karl kicks off a new 10-week sermon series diving into the letters of 1st and 2nd Timothy. Speaking on Mother’s Day, he highlights the powerful influence of faithful mothers and grandmothers, drawing from Timothy’s own story, shaped by his mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois. Pastor Karl emphasizes the core theme of these letters: what a Jesus community believes—its doctrine—directly shapes how it lives. Exploring 1st Timothy Chapter 1, he unpacks Paul’s charge to Timothy, a young leader in Ephesus, to remain steadfast in a challenging environment, teaching sound doctrine and resisting cultural confusion. Pastor Karl outlines six reasons to "remain" in faith: hard places need hard truth, God’s people are needed, God uses unworthy people, we serve a great God, the battle for faith is too important to surrender, and some have already fallen away. With passion, he calls the church to stand under Scripture, guard doctrine, and trust in God’s grace to live faithfully. Join us for an inspiring start to this series, urging believers to press in and stay committed.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
we're going to start a new series today,going through first and second Timothy.
But before we get into that,let me just add my,
Happy Mother's Day sentiment,
to you moms and grandmas.
And while we celebrate
this day and celebrate moms and grandmas,
we also I want to pastor usthrough this moment
(00:24):
because for some, it's a, it's a very fun
and joyous and and affirming day,
and you get to be with your kidsand, and kids good to be with their moms.
And, but that's not true for everybody.
And, I want us to steward this time.
Well, and steward each otherwell and our relationships
(00:44):
and for some, Mother's Day
is another reminder of what is missing.
And so I would like to just pray over us,
in Thanksgiving
for the love and the faithfulnessand the sacrifice that we've seen in moms
(01:04):
and and grandma's, but to also acknowledge
that there are some familiesgoing through this day without mom
and without grandma.
And there are some women
going through this day without kids
who have onewho've never known that experience
(01:25):
or who have known it
and now are going through this day
in absence of it.
And so I want to steward this timewith each other.
Well,
thank God,and ask for his continued presence
(01:45):
and feeling that both in celebrationand in not.
So let's pray.
Father, we do thank you,
for the many examplesthat you've given us in our world
and in our life of reflections,of your love, of your steadfastness,
of your faithfulness,of your acceptance of your presence.
(02:07):
Today, we remember that in the knowledgethat in the context of moms
and grandmas who have
constantly loveand and been faithful and prayed,
and I thank you for the picture of youthat that gives us.
And father, also pray over us.
For those of us who are experience
(02:29):
experiencing this time.
When what we feel is absence.
And I thank you for the reminderthat even in this times
that we feel absence,we're reminded of your presence.
And so by the authority of your name,Jesus
and Holy Spirit, because of who you are.
Draw close to us in this moment,both in celebration,
(02:52):
and in absence.
And in loss.
Draw close to us.
Remind us of your presence.
Remind us of your goodness.
Draw our hearts and minds heavenward.
And not just attached to the thingsand relationships of this earth.
Draw our minds and hearts heavenward.
(03:13):
Remind us of you and I pray.
An extra measure of your graceand of your peace
and of your comfort over us, your people.
In your name I pray.
Amen.
I love you.
Happy Mother's Day.
First Timothy.
(03:35):
We're going to study in the next ten weekstogether.
First and second Timothy.
These are important letters.
There, there.
There are two lettersthat Paul wrote to a man named Timothy.
We refer to themas first Timothy and second Timothy.
Not real creative.
(03:57):
But very plain is what they are.
They're letterswritten to a young man from an old man.
And what we're going to dois look through this in all the scripture.
We're going to go through.
I want you to bring a Bible
or look on your smartphoneor your little device.
Some of you, this is a great,
excuse for you to look at your phone,because a lot of
(04:18):
you were looking at your phoneswhen I had the verses up there.
Anyway.
And so now
you look like you're participating with uswhile you're on your phone.
It'll make me feel better.
As I look at heads down.
But just just follow along.
If you don't have either of those,look on your neighbor.
Get close to somebody.
Look on theirs.
But there's there's a lot of thingsin first and second Timothy
(04:38):
that are going to be affirmingand challenging as we go through this.
But let me say right up front,the overarching kind of umbrella
over these two lettersthat we'll look at over the next,
I think about ten weeks or so,is this idea
that what a Jesus community believes
(04:59):
will directly shapehow that community lives.
We have to understand this.
What a Jesus community believes willdirectly shape how that community lives.
This is true for every one of us.
What one believes will determinehow one lives,
what we're talking about, what we
(05:20):
believe is called doctrine.
Who doctrine is that thing,
that set of beliefs, that set of valuesthat determine how we live.
And every person is driven by doctrine,whether you can read,
whether you verbalize it like that or not,whether you acknowledge that or not.
(05:41):
Every one of us is driven by doctrine,
what we believe and what we believe
directly shapes how we live.
And for those who claimJesus, our doctrine,
what we believe should be driven
by clear Scripture.
If if one doesn't claimto be an apprentice of Jesus
(06:05):
or doesn't ground themselves in Scripture,
their doctrine is just going to be made upof whatever they happen
to kind of glean from around them and,and kind of put together themselves.
So, so we need to understandthat as we look through this, our doctrine
is going to be drivenby what we believe God's word.
(06:26):
Okay.
Let me just pause for a minute.
We good. John.
All right, man, I appreciate you, buddy.
You have got skillsthat surpass anything I could do.
All right.
It's good to see you this morning, man.
So our doctrine is driven by scripture.
(06:47):
Okay.
And here'swhat we have to understand about Scripture
is that,
is that we rest under the text.
We don't stand over it.
Okay.
With this.
This drives this determines our doctrine.
What we believe determineshow we shapes how we live.
(07:08):
And we stand.
We rest under the Scripture.
We don't stand over it.
Okay.
You follow.
We got we got it.
We got to get this right about about this.
And the reason why that's so important,
to stand to rest under this.
Rather than just try to stand over it,
(07:31):
is because confusion in the cultureshould not create confusion in the church.
Well, okay.
Confusion of the cultureshould not create confusion in the church.
And the only waythe church doesn't get confused
is to rest under clear doctrine.
Okay.
(07:51):
Any time we try to stand over this,
it gets confusingbecause the culture drives
what we think and how we live it.
So this is really important.
Repeat after me.
Doctrine is important.
These two letters.
(08:12):
First and second Timothy.
Paul's focus on thisis that Timothy understand
and teach clear doctrine,
because he's it's going to drivethe people that he's leading.
Now, the apostle Paul that we justwe just got done
looking through the whole book of Romanswritten by the apostle Paul.
(08:33):
He's at the end of his lifenow when he writes this letter to Timothy,
he's going to write two letters to Timothyand one letter to a guy named Titus.
Right at the end of his lifeis going to be beheaded by,
the Roman emperor Nero.
And right before he's beheaded,he pins these letters because he's
setting people up to continue the ministrythat he's had in leading churches.
(08:56):
Paul met Timothy's
mom and grandma in a place called Lystra.
During his first missionary journey.
Paul took three missionary journeys,and during the first one
he was in this place called Lystra,and he met Tim's mom and grandma
laterduring his second missionary journey.
Paul met this, this,
(09:19):
this, this guy named Timothy.
And and and he saw in Timothy
the fact that God was callingTimothy into the ministry
like God was doing a work in his life.
And because he knew his mom and grandma,he got to know this young man, Timothy,
and eventually invited Timothyto travel with him
(09:40):
in his missionary work.
And so Timothy at this point isprobably in
his is is mid 20s or so.
Paul is in his later 50s.
And so you have this old manwriting to this young man
and setting this young man up to lead.
(10:00):
And his
his message to Timothy is going to beyou remain faithful.
You just you just stay.
He's going to give him some adviceabout that.
Timothy will begin to train under Paul,
and Timothy wants to emulate Paul,
and Paul knowing he's he's going to be a
he is arrestedand he knows he's headed towards death.
(10:22):
And he sets Timothy upto be the leader of the church in Ephesus.
So that's kind of the backgroundof all this.
Okay.
So this is an old man's words to a youngman setting them up for leadership.
And it's the perfect chapterto go through on Mother's Day.
I'll get there in a minute.Follow with me.
Just just trust me, okay?
So so let let let's let'sopen let's look at this.
(10:45):
I'm just going to go slowly through this.
Chapter one, verse one
Paul,
an apostle of Christ Jesus,by command of God
our Savior and of Christ Jesus, our hope.
Let me just unpack verse one.
There's a lot going on here.
(11:05):
Paul's introducing himselfand he's writing this letter to Timothy.
So Timothy will have like credentialsas he leads.
Well, in terms of like, look, I'mnot coming up with this on my own.
I'm not making this stuff up.
This comes from the apostle Paul that weall know is called of God has authority.
This is from him.
Paul says, Paul, an apostle of ChristJesus, by the command of God.
(11:25):
When Paul uses that wordapostle, it's used in this sense
and in bassador on special assignmentfrom the highest of authorities.
That's what he's saying.
He said, I am on special assignmentas the ambassador
of the highest of authorities,and I am an apostle.
He says by the command of God.
In every other letter, Paul writes
(11:48):
about his own apostleshipand ambassador of God.
He says, I'm an apostleby the will of God.
Here it's different.
Here he says, not by the will of God.
Now I'm by the commandof God. And here's why.
Most of us would
say, yeah, I know what God's will is.
He wants me to dot, dot, dot.
(12:11):
Right.
We know we want.
Right? Right.
There's a difference between saying,
this is what God wantsand this is what he commands.
Because if all I dois think God wants this.
Yeah, but I don't really want that.
Somebody mounting.
(12:31):
But if I stand there with the knowledgeGod doesn't just want this.
God has commanded this.
Now, if I don't
now, I'm just outright
obstinate, disobedient,
arrogant, and full of pride.
There's a difference, right? Yes.
(12:53):
And so Paul is like,look, God doesn't just want me to do this.
This is his command of me.
And I dare not say no to God's command.
Some of us in this placeneed to make the transition in our life
from the want of God
to the command of God.
(13:16):
Do you understand?
By the command of God
our Savior and Christ Jesus, our hope.
Paul is so.
He's so intelligent,but he's so sneaky and crafty, too.
They're one of the reasons he writes bythe command of God, our Savior and Christ.
(13:37):
I think he'she kind of writing this a little bit,
like the pen presses down a little bitour savior.
Here's why.
Because Caesar Nero commandedthat everybody in the nation
would call him Caesar.
Nero the Savior.
And so Paul's like, yeah, take this Nero.
(13:58):
He knows he's going to be bad.
He knows he going to be killed by Nero.
And he is still as unwavering and bold.
It's like I me for a better country.
Heaven. Not this. You're not the savior.
There's one. His name is Jesus.
I just love that about Paul
of Christ Jesus.
Our hope.
(14:19):
Look at verse two to Timothy,my two child in the faith,
grace, mercy and peace from Godthe Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is why this is the perfect chapterto talk about on Mother's Day,
because Paul says to Timothy
that packs a lot of information.
Timothy
and Paul's second letter to Timothy.
(14:41):
We get an understandingof who this Timothy is
and and his heritage.
And in second Timothy one five it says,I am reminded of your sincere faith
and faiththat dwelt first in your grandmother Lois.
And your mother Eunice.
And now I am sure, dwells in you as well.
(15:02):
This guy Timothy
was the onewho would apprentice under Paul,
who would take upPaul's mantle of leadership.
One of the first leaders of the churchin the first century.
A man of faith,a man of leadership, a strong,
a man who started outtimid, who became an oak tree.
(15:24):
And he
became that because of the faithand the prayers
and the faithfulness of his motherand his grandmother.
Notice who's not listed.
His dad.
Timothy's parents. Mom and dad.
Mom was a Jew.
(15:44):
A woman of the faith.
His father was a Greek,so his home was of mixed
race and mixed faith.
And it was his mother.
Her faithfulness, her prayers,
her witness, her testimony,
her trust in God
(16:05):
and his grandmother's faiththat set this foundation for him,
that put him in a positionto respond to God's call on his life
and respond to Paul's invitationto follow him in ministry.
What incredible woman womenTimothy had raising him.
Yeah.
(16:26):
Listen,
moms,
grandmas.
There is so much power in your prayers
and your trust in God
and your surrender to your Savior,
in your faithfulness in your witness.
(16:47):
There's so much power in your life,
in those that are watching youand those that are coming up
after you, in your kids and grandkids.
Your faithfulness is vitally
and crucially important.
I know you know that.
(17:08):
I don't know if you feel that
sometimes
parenting in general, especially moms,
it gets exhausting, doesn't it?
Doesn't it?
So it's so interestingthe difference in moms and dads.
Moms raise their children to nurture
(17:30):
and to guide and to protect.
That's a mom's heart.
It's a nurturing heart.
A dad raises his kids to conquer.
Right.
And so when the time comes
for the children to leave,
if they leave, well,the dad's like, well, yeah, go get it.
(17:56):
The moms like.
But now I
know I'm losing.
Right.
Well, there's a sense of of pride.
There's also a great sense of loss.
And so so so moms,
(18:19):
your prayers, your faithfulness,
your commitment,your witness are so powerful, so profound.
Don't back off.
Don't slow down.
This man Timothy.
This is what honestly, every Christian
(18:43):
mom and grandma desires for their kids.
Like you're following the Lord.
You're loving the Lord.
You're being faithful, right?
It was because of her prayers
and her faithfulness
and her steadfastness.
(19:05):
My wife is like Lois and Eunice.
When I got married,
I didn't want to marry a capacitor.
I wanted to marry a godly woman
whose primary ministrywould be Joe and Caleb and Wyatt,
and whose primary ministrywas our kids in our home.
(19:28):
And the
reason our sons are walking with the Lord.
Aside from the grace and mercy of God.
But the reason our three sons are walkingwith the Lord
is because of Shelby's ministryin our home.
Moms press in
(19:50):
and keep pressing in,
though others may never hear your prayers,
and others may never see your faithfulnessbehind the doors of your home.
God does, and he is faithful.
Do you understand?
And because of these two women,
this young man God raised up
(20:13):
in Hebrews,it's just a beautiful, beautiful picture
of what was going on behind the scenes
that created this young manand who he was.
And Paul says, Timothy
may grace, mercy and peace from Godour father be yours.
Whenever Paul writes to churches,he starts the same way.
Grace and peace be upon you.
(20:35):
When he writes to Timothy and Titus,first Timothy second to ministries,
he adds an element therehe has to grace and peace.
What mercy is like. Look.
People
need not just not grace and peace.
(20:55):
People. Individuals need what
we need a lot of mercy.
May the mercy of God be on you.
Right.
And so he includes that in Timothyand in Titus.
And so,so he kind of set the stage for Timothy
to remember who you are,remember your heritage.
Remember your charge.
And now, he said, now he gets into it.
(21:16):
And there are six things that Paul tellsTimothy about.
Remaining is huge for for Timothyin this in verse three,
as I urged you when I was goingto Macedonia, remain in Ephesus.
So so the idea of remaining is hugefor Timothy.
Timothy, when he started, was prettytimid, had a lot of doubt.
(21:39):
He was a little bit sickly andand so Timothy was fine
as long as he was under the umbrellaof Paul, because Paul was the strong one.
Timothy was wired a little bit different.
Timothy was a little bit like,I don't know if I got what it takes.
I felt that way.
Like, I don't know if I'm really likewhat you've asked me to do, right?
And so Paul is going to press in and say,look, Timothy, here's to go.
(22:01):
Just remain. Just stay.
God hasn't called you to anywherebut here.
Just.
And so we're going to see six timesin this first chapter
where Paul's pressingand saying, remain, remain and reign.
Remain because you got a job to do that
God has equippedyou for, though you may feel inadequate.
God has equipped you. Here's the deal.
Whatever God has called youto, he's equipped you for.
(22:23):
Mom's here. That.
Here that.
We're God guides.
God provides.
So let me just say this.
I feel like I gotta say this.
Even if you are a mom by surprise.
It was an accident,and God wasn't surprised.
(22:44):
So wherever God has guided you, he'salso equipped you.
Just.
Just press into this
that Timothy says.
Or Paul says to Timothy, as I urge you,when I was going to Macedonia
to remain in Ephesus,so that you may charge certain persons
not to teach any different doctrine,nor to devote themselves to myths.
(23:05):
And in this genealogies what promotespeculations rather than the stewardship
from God, that is, by faith.
Here's what he's saying.
He's saying one reason you have to remain
is is because hard places need hard truth.
Ephesus was a hard place.
Ephesus was was a place where in Ephesus,
(23:25):
in the mountains abovethe city was the temple of Diana.
And at the temple of Dianathey had a thousand temple prostitutes.
Diana was this, this, this goddess ofof sensuality and fertility.
And these prostitutesfrom the temple of Diana
in the eveningwould come down in the city of Ephesus
and propositioned the men.
(23:48):
They were mixing sex and spirituality
and and they convinced the culturethat if the men had sexual relations
with the prostitutes,the goddess Diana would bless them
fertility and increase and abundanceand all that stuff.
So it was a really it was a spiritual.
It was a really dark place.
(24:10):
But also what was going on in this place.
At the base of the temple of Diana,the women in the church.
I got say this in a way that I don't getmyself in trouble, and it's hard for me.
These next couple weeksare going to be tough.
So the like, don't think of the templeprostitutes like pole dancers.
They didn't look like that.
Not that any of us would knowwhat a pole dancer looks like,
(24:30):
but I'm just saying, maybewe've seen a movie just like they did.
They were just ornately.
They were just dressed ornately,
uncovered heads and faces and stuff.
And so the women of the church,
dressed ornately, also.
And so it's hard to tell the differencebetween culturally
(24:51):
and the women of the churchand the women of the culture.
They just look likethe women out in the world.
Not only
that, the men of the churchwere a bunch of weak
kneed, limp wristed, passive menthat just kind of sit back
and let the women dowhatever they wanted to do, like whatever.
Just how familiar
(25:14):
to any culture.
So Tim's in a tough spot.
And andand so there was internal pressure.
There was external pressurethat he just wanted to leave.
It was.
It was too tough.
He's a young man. He's in a tough spot.
Did you know that currently
(25:35):
this is regarding pastors?
65% of pastors feel as though they live
in complete isolation.
It's tough.
Everybody gets a piece of us.
It's.
And so Paul's pressing.
He says, look, look,I urged you, when you're in Ephesus,
(25:56):
you have to stayso that you can charge certain persons
not to teach different doctrineor to devote themselves to genealogy.
When he says, Timothy,I'm charging you with this.
That's a military term from a commandingofficer over a subordinate.
I'm chargingthat you cannot get out of this.
I'm charging to stay there and tomake sure that you're teaching the like.
(26:18):
You're making sure these people don'tteach different doctrine.
This is a doctoral issue.
Make sure that they knowwhat their their doctrines sound.
Because doctrine is.
I ask you to repeat
this earlier,and you did it like you knew what
(26:40):
your word is important.
So he's saying,teach these guys strong doctrine
because doctrine is doctrines important.
He said, don't, don't, don't.
I'm charging us. Come here.
Don't let these young idiotsstart chasing down rabbit trails
because it leads unto endless debatesand and fights with each other.
(27:05):
And they get awayfrom the doctrine of God,
which is the grace of God,which is salvation.
Quit messing aroundwith all this other stuff that's out there
that you're going to absorb your timewith, and chase and Rabbit Trail
after, Rabbit trail after Rabbit Trailabout all this useless stuff.
You understand?
(27:28):
Hard places need hard truth.
So protect the doctrine.
Because what you believeis going to shape how you live.
And some of your people,Timothy, are living useless lives
and wasting time and energybecause they got bad doctrine.
(27:50):
Listen, truth starved people
need truth fed leaders.
You stay put.
The aim of our charge, verse five,
is love that issues from a pure heartand a good conscience and a sincere faith.
(28:12):
Certain persons, by swerving from these,have wandered away into vain discussions,
desiring to be teachers of the lawwithout understanding either what
they are saying or the things about whichthey make confident assertions.
They say, look,
some of these guys are just
vain discussions.
(28:33):
Have you ever realized that youthwas wasted
minutes and hours and days
chasing down rabbit trails and conspiracytheories
and podcasts and swipes
and stupid discussions about stupid stuffthat makes no difference
whatsoever?
As far as the gospel and faith and salvation is concerned, you ever been there?
(28:58):
Saying,look, Timothy, you're in a tough spot.
It needs hard truth.
Just stay putand do what needs to be done.
Your role is to teach good doctrinebecause that's the important thing.
Don't get caught up in vain discussions
and arguments about
non-essential stuff.
(29:19):
Look at what he says.
Verse eight.
Now we know that the law is goodif one uses it lawfully.
I'm gonna talk aboutunjust mean. Just hang with me.
Let's read understanding this that the lawis not laid down for the judge,
but for the lawless and disobedient,
for the ungodly incentivesfor the unholy and profane.
And then he lists a bunch of stuff forthose who strike their father and mothers.
I can't,
I kids.
(29:44):
Strike their father.
Look, my daddy.
Former marine and sergeant in Vietnam.
There's no way
I would have crossed my father
to understand.
And there's no way I will cross my mama.
(30:06):
Because that would meanI'd have to with my papa.
You understand? Yeah.
And he's saying you got peoplethere, these young ones
who are so insolent and so arrogant
as to disregard
their mothers and their fathers.
Are you kidding me?
(30:31):
Does that sound familiar?
When a child is not afraid
to disrespect his motherbecause there's no fear of his father.
Paul's like Timothy.
You got a tough job,
and you better lay into some good doctrine
(30:52):
for these folk.
For murders.
For the sexually immoral menwho practice homosexuality
and slavers, liars, purgesand whatever else.
That's everything elsethat is contrary to sound doctrine
in accordance with the gospel,the glory of the blessed God
with which I've been entrusted.Here's what he's saying.
(31:14):
Hard places need hard truth and
you remain because hard places need you.
They're not going to get the truthfrom anywhere else.
God's placed you there to give it.
God's placed you there to show it.
(31:35):
God's placed you there to live it.
And he's saying
part of that thingthat you need to press into
and they need you to do itis this whole thing on law.
Here's what they thought.
They thought that God gave us his lawso we would obey his law.
(31:55):
Because if we obeyed his law,we would be right with him.
And Paul's like, that's so wrong.
God gave us his lawso we would realize how perfect his law is
and how imperfect we are,which is such a safe place to be.
Because if I realize that God'slaw is perfect and I am imperfect,
(32:16):
what God's law has showed meis that I need someone to make me perfect.
Does that make sense?
And so what he's saying here is
these people are getting so confusedabout how to live rightly.
And they they're hard hearted people
who have rejected Christ and rejectedhis mercy and rejected his grace.
(32:37):
And they need you, Timothy,to be that person
in their lives to with truth and love.
Show them that thoughthis points out their inadequacy,
it also points to the onewho makes up for their inadequacy.
Jesus.
That's their job.
Moms,
(32:58):
your job is not to convince your kids
that they're perfect.
It's to point out you are not perfect.
And I love you,and you sin and mess up and God loves you.
And I'm going to live that out before you.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
(33:19):
Remain because hard places need you.
You don't get it back out of this.
It's such a safe placeto admit I'm a sinner.
Because Paul will say later,Jesus came to save sinners.
So the only people that get savedare sinners.
(33:41):
So when I try to convince myselfI'm not a sinner, I'm taking myself
out of the possibility of being saved.
That's a hard truthfor some people to hear
right?
Stay there
because our places need you.
And then it goes on.
(34:03):
He'll. Oh, here's.
Let me tell you.
Let me tell you this.
Here's here's our understandwe understand this out here in the
in the valley turf fields.
And you tell farmers
you understand?
Yeah.
Some of you need to hear thisabout your home.
Some of you are in a home.
That's a pretty tough field right now.
(34:24):
It doesn't mean you tap out.
It means that turf field
needs some tough farmers.
He says, Timothy,
you staybecause hard pieces need hard truth.
And you stay.
You remain.
Because hard places need you.
(34:44):
And then he says, you remain
because God uses unworthy people.
Just look at what he says here.
Verses 12 and following.
I thank him, God, who has given mestrength, Christ Jesus our Lord,
because he judge me faithful,appointing me to his service.
Though formerly I was a blasphemer,persecutor, and insolent opponent.
(35:06):
But I received mercybecause I had acted ignorantly
in unbelief, and the grace of our Lordoverflowed for me
with the faith and love that ChristJesus came.
Oh, that are in Christ Jesus.
The Saint is trustworthyand deserving of full acceptance
that Christ Jesus came into the worldto save sinners.
There it is of whom I am the foremost.
(35:28):
But I received
mercy for this reason, that in me,as the foremost of sinners,
Jesus Christ might displayhis perfect patience as an example
to those who were to believe in himfor eternal life.
Here's what he's saying.
You remain because though you feel
unworthy, God uses unworthy people.
How many of us? Some of them.
(35:48):
So some of the people feelthe most unworthy.
Are parents
because we know.
How many parents
have this feel like, man,if I could go back
and do that part differently.
I mean, how many of us you want to raiseyour hand as parents grandparents?
(36:09):
I absolutely
like like there's this overwhelmingfeeling of if I just
I got so much wrong,
if I could just.
And then Paul's telling to me,
look to me,don't get discouraged by remain there
because us unworthypeople are the exact ones God uses.
(36:32):
Like what he says, I used to be.
And these just.
But the grace of God.
Every one of us has anI used to be, but I used to.
But the grace of God.
But I used to. But the mercy of God.
But I used to.
But Jesus, now every one of us has anI used to be.
Not every one of us has,but the grace of God.
(36:55):
Every one of us has. And I used to be.
But not every one of us has abut the mercy of God.
Every one of us has an I used to be,but not every one of us has a better.
Now. Jesus has.
And so if you haven't, I used to be.
Paul says, understand there is a Godwho will give you the grace of God
now in the mercy of God nowand the Jesus now, just stay put.
(37:16):
Don't tap outbecause you think you're not able to.
Don't tap outbecause you think you're not worthy.
There's the grace of Godthat is sufficient.
There's the mercy of God that is profound.
There's the Jesuswho is in your present right now.
Just stay.
God is in the beautiful workof using unworthy people.
And he's.
And Paul says, I was the worst of them.
(37:38):
Listen,
he says, God counterthe proof that God kind of means faithful.
It takes no talent to be faithful.
It takes no gifting to be faithful.
You just have to be
faithful.
I tell my football boys all the time.
The most important thingsabout a football player
are the stuff that takes no talent.
(37:59):
Hustle.
Work hard.
Do your damndest.
Be a great teammate.
That's the most important stuffin football
and has nothing to do with talent.
That's what Paul's saying.
I don't care if you feel themwhere they just be faithful.
Let God make up the lack.
(38:19):
And I love as he goes to this.
I used to be formula.I was but the grace of God now.
And as you, as you look at Paul,he says, I am the foremost of all sin.
I'm the chief of all sinners.
It's such growth in Paul,because when Paul first started talking
about himself after he came to faith inJesus in acts 23, he talks about himself.
He says,I was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
(38:40):
That was the top echelonof the religious leaders for the Jews.
He said, that's what I was a Pharisee,the Pharisees of the best of the religious
Jews. I was top notch.
And then, as hegoes on in the book of First Corinthians
15, he stops talking about being the chiefof all the Pharisees.
He says, I was the least of the apostles.
(39:01):
So he stepping down a little bit.
Do you understand
now? He's still saying,now I'm still an apostle. So.
But I was the least of them.
And now, at the end of his life,he says, I'm
the worst of all sinners
see maturity
(39:22):
is when you realizehow far from God you are,
not when you play as though
you are nearly God.
And here's why
he said himselfof the chiefest of all sinners,
because he
talked aloud, tortured, set up
(39:43):
the torture of Christ followersto renounce
Jesus as Lord.
And he's like, that's
really bad.
And if God.
Can do a transformed work in me.
His grace overflow.
And he did itso you wouldn't have an excuse.
(40:06):
Thinking you to a foregone.
He says, I'm a I'ma trophy of God's grace, man.
And God looks really good.
When you look at how bad I've been.
He says, you can do that for me.
He says, so push you into this.
I'm glad you feel unworthy.
That's right where you should beand you should feel,
(40:27):
because there's nothing to dowith your worthiness.
Let me just keep going real quick.
Look at verse 17.
To the King of the ages,
immortal, invisible, the only Godbe honor and glory forever and ever.
He's saying, just remain.
(40:49):
Stay.
Don't tap out and push into thisbecause you serve a great God.
It's not about your past.
It's not about your failure.
It's not about your unworthiness.
It's about the greatness of God.
He just burst out into praise
to the King of the ages, immortal,invisible, the only God be honor,
(41:11):
glory forever and ever. Amen.It's as if he's going to look.
It might have been this way in the past,but my God is so good.
He's so powerful. He's so strong.
Can't be praised.
He just burst out into praiselike he can't help himself.
God is so good. And here's what I know.
If it's difficult for you and me to praiseGod, it's because we don't know him
very well.
(41:35):
Stay.
Push in.
Don't tap outbecause you serve a great God.
Who is so much more capable than you are.
Moms, you serve a great God
who is so much more capable
and faithful to your kids than evenyou are.
(41:59):
Lead well.
Dads.
You serve a great God.
Though we have failure we would neverdare mention in polite company.
We serve a great God
whose grace is sufficient.
Press in and remain.
(42:23):
He says
Timothy, hard places need hard truth.
Hard places need you.
God who staybecause God uses unworthy people.
You remain because you serve a great God.
Don't ever let it be difficult
for you to praise God.
Know him well enough.
(42:44):
Like it's on the tip of my tongue.
Every like he is so good.
Remain.
Timothy, because a big God deserves
big faithfulnessand a big God deserves big praise.
Remain.
The fifth thing he says remain.
(43:05):
Because it's a battlethat you must not surrender.
This is too important.
It's too important.
This charge
I entrust to you, Timothy, my child,in accordance with the prophecies
previous made about you, that by themyou may wage a good warfare,
holding faith and a good conscience.
(43:26):
By rejecting this,some have made shipwreck of their faith.
He said, look, I'm charging you.
You're in this battle
and it's too important.
It must never be surrendered.
And I love the fact that he says,in accordance with the prophecies
that were prophesied about you.
In my mind, I think he's talking about hismom and his grandma
who spoke over hima prophecy of God's call on his life.
(43:50):
He says he gotthey made that prophecy over you. You.
This was a war you're fighting.
And it's too important to tap out.
You never surrender from this battle.
Battles and wars are made to be difficult.
They're not made to be easy.And it's going to be hard.
But stay in it because it's too important.
Don't walk out.
Don't back off.
Don't let up.Don't relent. You understand?
(44:13):
Yes. Moms, you get this.
The battle for your childrenis too important to be surrendered.
I know it gets tired.
It's okay to be tired in it.
Just don't get tired of it.
Dads, I know the battle for
our familiesis too important to surrender.
(44:34):
We don't get to be passive.
We don't get to back off
young people.
It's too important.
The battle for faith is too important.
That rests on the shouldersof the younger generation.
It's too important to be surrendered.
You don't get to give in to the whimsand and currents of culture.
(44:55):
You get to standin defiance of the current.
The battle we're inis too important to be surrendered.
He's giving it to you.
He's giving you the battle.
You hold to thatfaith and a good conscience.
It says you remain.
The battle isn't over,and neither are you.
(45:17):
You understand that?
Don't you dare tap out.
You remain
because some don't remain.
You remain
because some have tapped out.
You remain
(45:38):
and you fight with strong doctrine.
And you fight with knowledge.And you fight with faith.
And you stay in it.
And you fight day and night
by the grace of God, not by your ability,but by your faithfulness.
Because some have tapped out,
too many have remained two ignorant,
and too many have gotten too fearful,and too many have tapped out.
(46:03):
We have seen too many walk away.
We've seen too many moms cash out.
We've seen too many dads tap out.
We've seen too many churches fold.
We've seen too many pastors walk away.
We've seen too many.
(46:23):
And because we've seen so
many, don't be one of them.
We've seen too many families fall apart.
Remain.
Not because you're able.
Because he's able, though.
You got a pastor.
You got grace, though.
You got a pass. You got mercy.
God is able to make up and he's calling us
(46:46):
to remain.
To guard the truth.
To guard doctrine and guide people into it
often.
Because, remember, doctrine is.
Live.
And because some have rejected it,they've made a shipwreck of their faith,
among whom are Harmonies and Alexander,whom I've handed over to Satan, that
(47:09):
they may learn not to blaspheme.
Apparently,Paul never got the memo that it's impolite
to name names.
It's like, look, I'm calling them out.
Let's just be honest.
They got bad doctrineand they shipwrecked their faith.
Now they've given over thatto the destruction of their own ways.
(47:29):
That they may learn.
What Paul sayingis that they may learn and come back.
Not that they're gone forever.
It's too important to walk awayis too important to tap out.
Some have.
Don't to understand.
Don't
listen.
(47:51):
Quitting and abdication
aren't part of God's plan.
Quitting
abdication are not part of God's plan.
Mom's
quittingand abdication are not part of God's plan.
Dad's.
Guess what?
Quitting and abdication and passivity
(48:12):
are not part of God's plan.
Husbands, wives,
quitting and abdication are not
part of God's plan.
Church
quitting and abdication
are not part of God's plan.
(48:33):
We don't tap out.
We don't back off.
We don't light, and we don't slow down.
It may be tough.
Fields may be rough. We may be inadequate.
We serve a great God,the immortal, invisible God.
To him be praised.
We press in.
Do you understand?
We guard doctrine.
(48:54):
We guide people to it.
And we ask for the grace of God.
That's first Timothy one.
And Paul is going to press into some stuff
that when I teach it,
(49:16):
some of youare going to get really upset at me
and I don't care.
And it's going to push us men and women.
Because Paul says doctrine is important
and it will shape how we live.
(49:40):
And so before we go
any further, we're going to ask God,
give us your overwhelming grace.
And we're going to say, God,I will remain.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you.
Thank you for your word.
(50:02):
Father,
we sit herenot as people who've got it right.
Not as people who
are never in error.
We sit here as people who are needy.
And God, we need your overwhelming grace.
The same grace you gave Paul.
The same grace you gave Timothythe same grace that you showed
through Lois and Eunice, Timothy'smom and grandma.
(50:24):
We need your grace.
God, give us strength when we're weak.
Give us faith when we're fearful.
Give us courage in the storm.
And give us a trust in you
that will enable us to remain.
Give us a trust in you.
(50:45):
That will push us into faith.
A trust in you that will push us.
That we would trust your sovereigntyand your providence.
That we would trust your gracethat is greater.
Your grace that is sufficient.
Give us a trust in you
that becomes unwavering,
(51:08):
that becomes unabated,
that is strong.
A trust in you that is fearless.
That we trust in you.
We love you.
Jesus.
In your name I pray. Amen.
Listen, go this week and read chapter one
(51:29):
with some fresh eyes.
And read chapter two.
Thank you.
Get ready to maybe be offended next week.
You'll be all right.
I'll be all right.
Remember what we're going to do.
We're going to remain. Yeah. No.
That's good Charlotte.
That's fine. You can do that. Yeah,
but we're going to stand under it right?
And not over it.
(51:49):
You understand that?
Okay, so here's what I want.
We're going to sing a song,and I want you to use song as your prayer.
That, God, I'm gonna trust in you.
I'm gonna stand under your word.
I'm gonna rest on your word.
Because I trust you.
Use this song. Is that prayer? Yeah.
Let's sing.
we're going to start a new series today,going through first and second Timothy.
But before we get into that,let me just add my,
Happy Mother's Day sentiment,
to you moms and grandmas.
And while we celebrate
this day and celebrate moms and grandmas,
we also I want to pastor usthrough this moment
(00:24):
because for some, it's a, it's a very fun
and joyous and and affirming day,
and you get to be with your kidsand, and kids good to be with their moms.
And, but that's not true for everybody.
And, I want us to steward this time.
Well, and steward each otherwell and our relationships
(00:44):
and for some, Mother's Day
is another reminder of what is missing.
And so I would like to just pray over us,
in Thanksgiving
for the love and the faithfulnessand the sacrifice that we've seen in moms
(01:04):
and and grandma's, but to also acknowledge
that there are some familiesgoing through this day without mom
and without grandma.
And there are some women
going through this day without kids
who have onewho've never known that experience
(01:25):
or who have known it
and now are going through this day
in absence of it.
And so I want to steward this timewith each other.
Well,
thank God,and ask for his continued presence
(01:45):
and feeling that both in celebrationand in not.
So let's pray.
Father, we do thank you,
for the many examplesthat you've given us in our world
and in our life of reflections,of your love, of your steadfastness,
of your faithfulness,of your acceptance of your presence.
(02:07):
Today, we remember that in the knowledgethat in the context of moms
and grandmas who have
constantly loveand and been faithful and prayed,
and I thank you for the picture of youthat that gives us.
And father, also pray over us.
For those of us who are experience
(02:29):
experiencing this time.
When what we feel is absence.
And I thank you for the reminderthat even in this times
that we feel absence,we're reminded of your presence.
And so by the authority of your name,Jesus
and Holy Spirit, because of who you are.
Draw close to us in this moment,both in celebration,
(02:52):
and in absence.
And in loss.
Draw close to us.
Remind us of your presence.
Remind us of your goodness.
Draw our hearts and minds heavenward.
And not just attached to the thingsand relationships of this earth.
Draw our minds and hearts heavenward.
(03:13):
Remind us of you and I pray.
An extra measure of your graceand of your peace
and of your comfort over us, your people.
In your name I pray.
Amen.
I love you.
Happy Mother's Day.
First Timothy.
(03:35):
We're going to study in the next ten weekstogether.
First and second Timothy.
These are important letters.
There, there.
There are two lettersthat Paul wrote to a man named Timothy.
We refer to themas first Timothy and second Timothy.
Not real creative.
(03:57):
But very plain is what they are.
They're letterswritten to a young man from an old man.
And what we're going to dois look through this in all the scripture.
We're going to go through.
I want you to bring a Bible
or look on your smartphoneor your little device.
Some of you, this is a great,
excuse for you to look at your phone,because a lot of
(04:18):
you were looking at your phoneswhen I had the verses up there.
Anyway.
And so now
you look like you're participating with uswhile you're on your phone.
It'll make me feel better.
As I look at heads down.
But just just follow along.
If you don't have either of those,look on your neighbor.
Get close to somebody.
Look on theirs.
But there's there's a lot of thingsin first and second Timothy
(04:38):
that are going to be affirmingand challenging as we go through this.
But let me say right up front,the overarching kind of umbrella
over these two lettersthat we'll look at over the next,
I think about ten weeks or so,is this idea
that what a Jesus community believes
(04:59):
will directly shapehow that community lives.
We have to understand this.
What a Jesus community believes willdirectly shape how that community lives.
This is true for every one of us.
What one believes will determinehow one lives,
what we're talking about, what we
(05:20):
believe is called doctrine.
Who doctrine is that thing,
that set of beliefs, that set of valuesthat determine how we live.
And every person is driven by doctrine,whether you can read,
whether you verbalize it like that or not,whether you acknowledge that or not.
(05:41):
Every one of us is driven by doctrine,
what we believe and what we believe
directly shapes how we live.
And for those who claimJesus, our doctrine,
what we believe should be driven
by clear Scripture.
If if one doesn't claimto be an apprentice of Jesus
(06:05):
or doesn't ground themselves in Scripture,
their doctrine is just going to be made upof whatever they happen
to kind of glean from around them and,and kind of put together themselves.
So, so we need to understandthat as we look through this, our doctrine
is going to be drivenby what we believe God's word.
(06:26):
Okay.
Let me just pause for a minute.
We good. John.
All right, man, I appreciate you, buddy.
You have got skillsthat surpass anything I could do.
All right.
It's good to see you this morning, man.
So our doctrine is driven by scripture.
(06:47):
Okay.
And here'swhat we have to understand about Scripture
is that,
is that we rest under the text.
We don't stand over it.
Okay.
With this.
This drives this determines our doctrine.
What we believe determineshow we shapes how we live.
(07:08):
And we stand.
We rest under the Scripture.
We don't stand over it.
Okay.
You follow.
We got we got it.
We got to get this right about about this.
And the reason why that's so important,
to stand to rest under this.
Rather than just try to stand over it,
(07:31):
is because confusion in the cultureshould not create confusion in the church.
Well, okay.
Confusion of the cultureshould not create confusion in the church.
And the only waythe church doesn't get confused
is to rest under clear doctrine.
Okay.
(07:51):
Any time we try to stand over this,
it gets confusingbecause the culture drives
what we think and how we live it.
So this is really important.
Repeat after me.
Doctrine is important.
These two letters.
(08:12):
First and second Timothy.
Paul's focus on thisis that Timothy understand
and teach clear doctrine,
because he's it's going to drivethe people that he's leading.
Now, the apostle Paul that we justwe just got done
looking through the whole book of Romanswritten by the apostle Paul.
(08:33):
He's at the end of his lifenow when he writes this letter to Timothy,
he's going to write two letters to Timothyand one letter to a guy named Titus.
Right at the end of his lifeis going to be beheaded by,
the Roman emperor Nero.
And right before he's beheaded,he pins these letters because he's
setting people up to continue the ministrythat he's had in leading churches.
(08:56):
Paul met Timothy's
mom and grandma in a place called Lystra.
During his first missionary journey.
Paul took three missionary journeys,and during the first one
he was in this place called Lystra,and he met Tim's mom and grandma
laterduring his second missionary journey.
Paul met this, this,
(09:19):
this, this guy named Timothy.
And and and he saw in Timothy
the fact that God was callingTimothy into the ministry
like God was doing a work in his life.
And because he knew his mom and grandma,he got to know this young man, Timothy,
and eventually invited Timothyto travel with him
(09:40):
in his missionary work.
And so Timothy at this point isprobably in
his is is mid 20s or so.
Paul is in his later 50s.
And so you have this old manwriting to this young man
and setting this young man up to lead.
(10:00):
And his
his message to Timothy is going to beyou remain faithful.
You just you just stay.
He's going to give him some adviceabout that.
Timothy will begin to train under Paul,
and Timothy wants to emulate Paul,
and Paul knowing he's he's going to be a
he is arrestedand he knows he's headed towards death.
(10:22):
And he sets Timothy upto be the leader of the church in Ephesus.
So that's kind of the backgroundof all this.
Okay.
So this is an old man's words to a youngman setting them up for leadership.
And it's the perfect chapterto go through on Mother's Day.
I'll get there in a minute.Follow with me.
Just just trust me, okay?
So so let let let's let'sopen let's look at this.
(10:45):
I'm just going to go slowly through this.
Chapter one, verse one
Paul,
an apostle of Christ Jesus,by command of God
our Savior and of Christ Jesus, our hope.
Let me just unpack verse one.
There's a lot going on here.
(11:05):
Paul's introducing himselfand he's writing this letter to Timothy.
So Timothy will have like credentialsas he leads.
Well, in terms of like, look, I'mnot coming up with this on my own.
I'm not making this stuff up.
This comes from the apostle Paul that weall know is called of God has authority.
This is from him.
Paul says, Paul, an apostle of ChristJesus, by the command of God.
(11:25):
When Paul uses that wordapostle, it's used in this sense
and in bassador on special assignmentfrom the highest of authorities.
That's what he's saying.
He said, I am on special assignmentas the ambassador
of the highest of authorities,and I am an apostle.
He says by the command of God.
In every other letter, Paul writes
(11:48):
about his own apostleshipand ambassador of God.
He says, I'm an apostleby the will of God.
Here it's different.
Here he says, not by the will of God.
Now I'm by the commandof God. And here's why.
Most of us would
say, yeah, I know what God's will is.
He wants me to dot, dot, dot.
(12:11):
Right.
We know we want.
Right? Right.
There's a difference between saying,
this is what God wantsand this is what he commands.
Because if all I dois think God wants this.
Yeah, but I don't really want that.
Somebody mounting.
(12:31):
But if I stand there with the knowledgeGod doesn't just want this.
God has commanded this.
Now, if I don't
now, I'm just outright
obstinate, disobedient,
arrogant, and full of pride.
There's a difference, right? Yes.
(12:53):
And so Paul is like,look, God doesn't just want me to do this.
This is his command of me.
And I dare not say no to God's command.
Some of us in this placeneed to make the transition in our life
from the want of God
to the command of God.
(13:16):
Do you understand?
By the command of God
our Savior and Christ Jesus, our hope.
Paul is so.
He's so intelligent,but he's so sneaky and crafty, too.
They're one of the reasons he writes bythe command of God, our Savior and Christ.
(13:37):
I think he'she kind of writing this a little bit,
like the pen presses down a little bitour savior.
Here's why.
Because Caesar Nero commandedthat everybody in the nation
would call him Caesar.
Nero the Savior.
And so Paul's like, yeah, take this Nero.
(13:58):
He knows he's going to be bad.
He knows he going to be killed by Nero.
And he is still as unwavering and bold.
It's like I me for a better country.
Heaven. Not this. You're not the savior.
There's one. His name is Jesus.
I just love that about Paul
of Christ Jesus.
Our hope.
(14:19):
Look at verse two to Timothy,my two child in the faith,
grace, mercy and peace from Godthe Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is why this is the perfect chapterto talk about on Mother's Day,
because Paul says to Timothy
that packs a lot of information.
Timothy
and Paul's second letter to Timothy.
(14:41):
We get an understandingof who this Timothy is
and and his heritage.
And in second Timothy one five it says,I am reminded of your sincere faith
and faiththat dwelt first in your grandmother Lois.
And your mother Eunice.
And now I am sure, dwells in you as well.
(15:02):
This guy Timothy
was the onewho would apprentice under Paul,
who would take upPaul's mantle of leadership.
One of the first leaders of the churchin the first century.
A man of faith,a man of leadership, a strong,
a man who started outtimid, who became an oak tree.
(15:24):
And he
became that because of the faithand the prayers
and the faithfulness of his motherand his grandmother.
Notice who's not listed.
His dad.
Timothy's parents. Mom and dad.
Mom was a Jew.
(15:44):
A woman of the faith.
His father was a Greek,so his home was of mixed
race and mixed faith.
And it was his mother.
Her faithfulness, her prayers,
her witness, her testimony,
her trust in God
(16:05):
and his grandmother's faiththat set this foundation for him,
that put him in a positionto respond to God's call on his life
and respond to Paul's invitationto follow him in ministry.
What incredible woman womenTimothy had raising him.
Yeah.
(16:26):
Listen,
moms,
grandmas.
There is so much power in your prayers
and your trust in God
and your surrender to your Savior,
in your faithfulness in your witness.
(16:47):
There's so much power in your life,
in those that are watching youand those that are coming up
after you, in your kids and grandkids.
Your faithfulness is vitally
and crucially important.
I know you know that.
(17:08):
I don't know if you feel that
sometimes
parenting in general, especially moms,
it gets exhausting, doesn't it?
Doesn't it?
So it's so interestingthe difference in moms and dads.
Moms raise their children to nurture
(17:30):
and to guide and to protect.
That's a mom's heart.
It's a nurturing heart.
A dad raises his kids to conquer.
Right.
And so when the time comes
for the children to leave,
if they leave, well,the dad's like, well, yeah, go get it.
(17:56):
The moms like.
But now I
know I'm losing.
Right.
Well, there's a sense of of pride.
There's also a great sense of loss.
And so so so moms,
(18:19):
your prayers, your faithfulness,
your commitment,your witness are so powerful, so profound.
Don't back off.
Don't slow down.
This man Timothy.
This is what honestly, every Christian
(18:43):
mom and grandma desires for their kids.
Like you're following the Lord.
You're loving the Lord.
You're being faithful, right?
It was because of her prayers
and her faithfulness
and her steadfastness.
(19:05):
My wife is like Lois and Eunice.
When I got married,
I didn't want to marry a capacitor.
I wanted to marry a godly woman
whose primary ministrywould be Joe and Caleb and Wyatt,
and whose primary ministrywas our kids in our home.
(19:28):
And the
reason our sons are walking with the Lord.
Aside from the grace and mercy of God.
But the reason our three sons are walkingwith the Lord
is because of Shelby's ministryin our home.
Moms press in
(19:50):
and keep pressing in,
though others may never hear your prayers,
and others may never see your faithfulnessbehind the doors of your home.
God does, and he is faithful.
Do you understand?
And because of these two women,
this young man God raised up
(20:13):
in Hebrews,it's just a beautiful, beautiful picture
of what was going on behind the scenes
that created this young manand who he was.
And Paul says, Timothy
may grace, mercy and peace from Godour father be yours.
Whenever Paul writes to churches,he starts the same way.
Grace and peace be upon you.
(20:35):
When he writes to Timothy and Titus,first Timothy second to ministries,
he adds an element therehe has to grace and peace.
What mercy is like. Look.
People
need not just not grace and peace.
(20:55):
People. Individuals need what
we need a lot of mercy.
May the mercy of God be on you.
Right.
And so he includes that in Timothyand in Titus.
And so,so he kind of set the stage for Timothy
to remember who you are,remember your heritage.
Remember your charge.
And now, he said, now he gets into it.
(21:16):
And there are six things that Paul tellsTimothy about.
Remaining is huge for for Timothyin this in verse three,
as I urged you when I was goingto Macedonia, remain in Ephesus.
So so the idea of remaining is hugefor Timothy.
Timothy, when he started, was prettytimid, had a lot of doubt.
(21:39):
He was a little bit sickly andand so Timothy was fine
as long as he was under the umbrellaof Paul, because Paul was the strong one.
Timothy was wired a little bit different.
Timothy was a little bit like,I don't know if I got what it takes.
I felt that way.
Like, I don't know if I'm really likewhat you've asked me to do, right?
And so Paul is going to press in and say,look, Timothy, here's to go.
(22:01):
Just remain. Just stay.
God hasn't called you to anywherebut here.
Just.
And so we're going to see six timesin this first chapter
where Paul's pressingand saying, remain, remain and reign.
Remain because you got a job to do that
God has equippedyou for, though you may feel inadequate.
God has equipped you. Here's the deal.
Whatever God has called youto, he's equipped you for.
(22:23):
Mom's here. That.
Here that.
We're God guides.
God provides.
So let me just say this.
I feel like I gotta say this.
Even if you are a mom by surprise.
It was an accident,and God wasn't surprised.
(22:44):
So wherever God has guided you, he'salso equipped you.
Just.
Just press into this
that Timothy says.
Or Paul says to Timothy, as I urge you,when I was going to Macedonia
to remain in Ephesus,so that you may charge certain persons
not to teach any different doctrine,nor to devote themselves to myths.
(23:05):
And in this genealogies what promotespeculations rather than the stewardship
from God, that is, by faith.
Here's what he's saying.
He's saying one reason you have to remain
is is because hard places need hard truth.
Ephesus was a hard place.
Ephesus was was a place where in Ephesus,
(23:25):
in the mountains abovethe city was the temple of Diana.
And at the temple of Dianathey had a thousand temple prostitutes.
Diana was this, this, this goddess ofof sensuality and fertility.
And these prostitutesfrom the temple of Diana
in the eveningwould come down in the city of Ephesus
and propositioned the men.
(23:48):
They were mixing sex and spirituality
and and they convinced the culturethat if the men had sexual relations
with the prostitutes,the goddess Diana would bless them
fertility and increase and abundanceand all that stuff.
So it was a really it was a spiritual.
It was a really dark place.
(24:10):
But also what was going on in this place.
At the base of the temple of Diana,the women in the church.
I got say this in a way that I don't getmyself in trouble, and it's hard for me.
These next couple weeksare going to be tough.
So the like, don't think of the templeprostitutes like pole dancers.
They didn't look like that.
Not that any of us would knowwhat a pole dancer looks like,
(24:30):
but I'm just saying, maybewe've seen a movie just like they did.
They were just ornately.
They were just dressed ornately,
uncovered heads and faces and stuff.
And so the women of the church,
dressed ornately, also.
And so it's hard to tell the differencebetween culturally
(24:51):
and the women of the churchand the women of the culture.
They just look likethe women out in the world.
Not only
that, the men of the churchwere a bunch of weak
kneed, limp wristed, passive menthat just kind of sit back
and let the women dowhatever they wanted to do, like whatever.
Just how familiar
(25:14):
to any culture.
So Tim's in a tough spot.
And andand so there was internal pressure.
There was external pressurethat he just wanted to leave.
It was.
It was too tough.
He's a young man. He's in a tough spot.
Did you know that currently
(25:35):
this is regarding pastors?
65% of pastors feel as though they live
in complete isolation.
It's tough.
Everybody gets a piece of us.
It's.
And so Paul's pressing.
He says, look, look,I urged you, when you're in Ephesus,
(25:56):
you have to stayso that you can charge certain persons
not to teach different doctrineor to devote themselves to genealogy.
When he says, Timothy,I'm charging you with this.
That's a military term from a commandingofficer over a subordinate.
I'm chargingthat you cannot get out of this.
I'm charging to stay there and tomake sure that you're teaching the like.
(26:18):
You're making sure these people don'tteach different doctrine.
This is a doctoral issue.
Make sure that they knowwhat their their doctrines sound.
Because doctrine is.
I ask you to repeat
this earlier,and you did it like you knew what
(26:40):
your word is important.
So he's saying,teach these guys strong doctrine
because doctrine is doctrines important.
He said, don't, don't, don't.
I'm charging us. Come here.
Don't let these young idiotsstart chasing down rabbit trails
because it leads unto endless debatesand and fights with each other.
(27:05):
And they get awayfrom the doctrine of God,
which is the grace of God,which is salvation.
Quit messing aroundwith all this other stuff that's out there
that you're going to absorb your timewith, and chase and Rabbit Trail
after, Rabbit trail after Rabbit Trailabout all this useless stuff.
You understand?
(27:28):
Hard places need hard truth.
So protect the doctrine.
Because what you believeis going to shape how you live.
And some of your people,Timothy, are living useless lives
and wasting time and energybecause they got bad doctrine.
(27:50):
Listen, truth starved people
need truth fed leaders.
You stay put.
The aim of our charge, verse five,
is love that issues from a pure heartand a good conscience and a sincere faith.
(28:12):
Certain persons, by swerving from these,have wandered away into vain discussions,
desiring to be teachers of the lawwithout understanding either what
they are saying or the things about whichthey make confident assertions.
They say, look,
some of these guys are just
vain discussions.
(28:33):
Have you ever realized that youthwas wasted
minutes and hours and days
chasing down rabbit trails and conspiracytheories
and podcasts and swipes
and stupid discussions about stupid stuffthat makes no difference
whatsoever?
As far as the gospel and faith and salvation is concerned, you ever been there?
(28:58):
Saying,look, Timothy, you're in a tough spot.
It needs hard truth.
Just stay putand do what needs to be done.
Your role is to teach good doctrinebecause that's the important thing.
Don't get caught up in vain discussions
and arguments about
non-essential stuff.
(29:19):
Look at what he says.
Verse eight.
Now we know that the law is goodif one uses it lawfully.
I'm gonna talk aboutunjust mean. Just hang with me.
Let's read understanding this that the lawis not laid down for the judge,
but for the lawless and disobedient,
for the ungodly incentivesfor the unholy and profane.
And then he lists a bunch of stuff forthose who strike their father and mothers.
I can't,
I kids.
(29:44):
Strike their father.
Look, my daddy.
Former marine and sergeant in Vietnam.
There's no way
I would have crossed my father
to understand.
And there's no way I will cross my mama.
(30:06):
Because that would meanI'd have to with my papa.
You understand? Yeah.
And he's saying you got peoplethere, these young ones
who are so insolent and so arrogant
as to disregard
their mothers and their fathers.
Are you kidding me?
(30:31):
Does that sound familiar?
When a child is not afraid
to disrespect his motherbecause there's no fear of his father.
Paul's like Timothy.
You got a tough job,
and you better lay into some good doctrine
(30:52):
for these folk.
For murders.
For the sexually immoral menwho practice homosexuality
and slavers, liars, purgesand whatever else.
That's everything elsethat is contrary to sound doctrine
in accordance with the gospel,the glory of the blessed God
with which I've been entrusted.Here's what he's saying.
(31:14):
Hard places need hard truth and
you remain because hard places need you.
They're not going to get the truthfrom anywhere else.
God's placed you there to give it.
God's placed you there to show it.
(31:35):
God's placed you there to live it.
And he's saying
part of that thingthat you need to press into
and they need you to do itis this whole thing on law.
Here's what they thought.
They thought that God gave us his lawso we would obey his law.
(31:55):
Because if we obeyed his law,we would be right with him.
And Paul's like, that's so wrong.
God gave us his lawso we would realize how perfect his law is
and how imperfect we are,which is such a safe place to be.
Because if I realize that God'slaw is perfect and I am imperfect,
(32:16):
what God's law has showed meis that I need someone to make me perfect.
Does that make sense?
And so what he's saying here is
these people are getting so confusedabout how to live rightly.
And they they're hard hearted people
who have rejected Christ and rejectedhis mercy and rejected his grace.
(32:37):
And they need you, Timothy,to be that person
in their lives to with truth and love.
Show them that thoughthis points out their inadequacy,
it also points to the onewho makes up for their inadequacy.
Jesus.
That's their job.
Moms,
(32:58):
your job is not to convince your kids
that they're perfect.
It's to point out you are not perfect.
And I love you,and you sin and mess up and God loves you.
And I'm going to live that out before you.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
(33:19):
Remain because hard places need you.
You don't get it back out of this.
It's such a safe placeto admit I'm a sinner.
Because Paul will say later,Jesus came to save sinners.
So the only people that get savedare sinners.
(33:41):
So when I try to convince myselfI'm not a sinner, I'm taking myself
out of the possibility of being saved.
That's a hard truthfor some people to hear
right?
Stay there
because our places need you.
And then it goes on.
(34:03):
He'll. Oh, here's.
Let me tell you.
Let me tell you this.
Here's here's our understandwe understand this out here in the
in the valley turf fields.
And you tell farmers
you understand?
Yeah.
Some of you need to hear thisabout your home.
Some of you are in a home.
That's a pretty tough field right now.
(34:24):
It doesn't mean you tap out.
It means that turf field
needs some tough farmers.
He says, Timothy,
you staybecause hard pieces need hard truth.
And you stay.
You remain.
Because hard places need you.
(34:44):
And then he says, you remain
because God uses unworthy people.
Just look at what he says here.
Verses 12 and following.
I thank him, God, who has given mestrength, Christ Jesus our Lord,
because he judge me faithful,appointing me to his service.
Though formerly I was a blasphemer,persecutor, and insolent opponent.
(35:06):
But I received mercybecause I had acted ignorantly
in unbelief, and the grace of our Lordoverflowed for me
with the faith and love that ChristJesus came.
Oh, that are in Christ Jesus.
The Saint is trustworthyand deserving of full acceptance
that Christ Jesus came into the worldto save sinners.
There it is of whom I am the foremost.
(35:28):
But I received
mercy for this reason, that in me,as the foremost of sinners,
Jesus Christ might displayhis perfect patience as an example
to those who were to believe in himfor eternal life.
Here's what he's saying.
You remain because though you feel
unworthy, God uses unworthy people.
How many of us? Some of them.
(35:48):
So some of the people feelthe most unworthy.
Are parents
because we know.
How many parents
have this feel like, man,if I could go back
and do that part differently.
I mean, how many of us you want to raiseyour hand as parents grandparents?
(36:09):
I absolutely
like like there's this overwhelmingfeeling of if I just
I got so much wrong,
if I could just.
And then Paul's telling to me,
look to me,don't get discouraged by remain there
because us unworthypeople are the exact ones God uses.
(36:32):
Like what he says, I used to be.
And these just.
But the grace of God.
Every one of us has anI used to be, but I used to.
But the grace of God.
But I used to. But the mercy of God.
But I used to.
But Jesus, now every one of us has anI used to be.
Not every one of us has,but the grace of God.
(36:55):
Every one of us has. And I used to be.
But not every one of us has abut the mercy of God.
Every one of us has an I used to be,but not every one of us has a better.
Now. Jesus has.
And so if you haven't, I used to be.
Paul says, understand there is a Godwho will give you the grace of God
now in the mercy of God nowand the Jesus now, just stay put.
(37:16):
Don't tap outbecause you think you're not able to.
Don't tap outbecause you think you're not worthy.
There's the grace of Godthat is sufficient.
There's the mercy of God that is profound.
There's the Jesuswho is in your present right now.
Just stay.
God is in the beautiful workof using unworthy people.
And he's.
And Paul says, I was the worst of them.
(37:38):
Listen,
he says, God counterthe proof that God kind of means faithful.
It takes no talent to be faithful.
It takes no gifting to be faithful.
You just have to be
faithful.
I tell my football boys all the time.
The most important thingsabout a football player
are the stuff that takes no talent.
(37:59):
Hustle.
Work hard.
Do your damndest.
Be a great teammate.
That's the most important stuffin football
and has nothing to do with talent.
That's what Paul's saying.
I don't care if you feel themwhere they just be faithful.
Let God make up the lack.
(38:19):
And I love as he goes to this.
I used to be formula.I was but the grace of God now.
And as you, as you look at Paul,he says, I am the foremost of all sin.
I'm the chief of all sinners.
It's such growth in Paul,because when Paul first started talking
about himself after he came to faith inJesus in acts 23, he talks about himself.
He says,I was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
(38:40):
That was the top echelonof the religious leaders for the Jews.
He said, that's what I was a Pharisee,the Pharisees of the best of the religious
Jews. I was top notch.
And then, as hegoes on in the book of First Corinthians
15, he stops talking about being the chiefof all the Pharisees.
He says, I was the least of the apostles.
(39:01):
So he stepping down a little bit.
Do you understand
now? He's still saying,now I'm still an apostle. So.
But I was the least of them.
And now, at the end of his life,he says, I'm
the worst of all sinners
see maturity
(39:22):
is when you realizehow far from God you are,
not when you play as though
you are nearly God.
And here's why
he said himselfof the chiefest of all sinners,
because he
talked aloud, tortured, set up
(39:43):
the torture of Christ followersto renounce
Jesus as Lord.
And he's like, that's
really bad.
And if God.
Can do a transformed work in me.
His grace overflow.
And he did itso you wouldn't have an excuse.
(40:06):
Thinking you to a foregone.
He says, I'm a I'ma trophy of God's grace, man.
And God looks really good.
When you look at how bad I've been.
He says, you can do that for me.
He says, so push you into this.
I'm glad you feel unworthy.
That's right where you should beand you should feel,
(40:27):
because there's nothing to dowith your worthiness.
Let me just keep going real quick.
Look at verse 17.
To the King of the ages,
immortal, invisible, the only Godbe honor and glory forever and ever.
He's saying, just remain.
(40:49):
Stay.
Don't tap out and push into thisbecause you serve a great God.
It's not about your past.
It's not about your failure.
It's not about your unworthiness.
It's about the greatness of God.
He just burst out into praise
to the King of the ages, immortal,invisible, the only God be honor,
(41:11):
glory forever and ever. Amen.It's as if he's going to look.
It might have been this way in the past,but my God is so good.
He's so powerful. He's so strong.
Can't be praised.
He just burst out into praiselike he can't help himself.
God is so good. And here's what I know.
If it's difficult for you and me to praiseGod, it's because we don't know him
very well.
(41:35):
Stay.
Push in.
Don't tap outbecause you serve a great God.
Who is so much more capable than you are.
Moms, you serve a great God
who is so much more capable
and faithful to your kids than evenyou are.
(41:59):
Lead well.
Dads.
You serve a great God.
Though we have failure we would neverdare mention in polite company.
We serve a great God
whose grace is sufficient.
Press in and remain.
(42:23):
He says
Timothy, hard places need hard truth.
Hard places need you.
God who staybecause God uses unworthy people.
You remain because you serve a great God.
Don't ever let it be difficult
for you to praise God.
Know him well enough.
(42:44):
Like it's on the tip of my tongue.
Every like he is so good.
Remain.
Timothy, because a big God deserves
big faithfulnessand a big God deserves big praise.
Remain.
The fifth thing he says remain.
(43:05):
Because it's a battlethat you must not surrender.
This is too important.
It's too important.
This charge
I entrust to you, Timothy, my child,in accordance with the prophecies
previous made about you, that by themyou may wage a good warfare,
holding faith and a good conscience.
(43:26):
By rejecting this,some have made shipwreck of their faith.
He said, look, I'm charging you.
You're in this battle
and it's too important.
It must never be surrendered.
And I love the fact that he says,in accordance with the prophecies
that were prophesied about you.
In my mind, I think he's talking about hismom and his grandma
who spoke over hima prophecy of God's call on his life.
(43:50):
He says he gotthey made that prophecy over you. You.
This was a war you're fighting.
And it's too important to tap out.
You never surrender from this battle.
Battles and wars are made to be difficult.
They're not made to be easy.And it's going to be hard.
But stay in it because it's too important.
Don't walk out.
Don't back off.
Don't let up.Don't relent. You understand?
(44:13):
Yes. Moms, you get this.
The battle for your childrenis too important to be surrendered.
I know it gets tired.
It's okay to be tired in it.
Just don't get tired of it.
Dads, I know the battle for
our familiesis too important to surrender.
(44:34):
We don't get to be passive.
We don't get to back off
young people.
It's too important.
The battle for faith is too important.
That rests on the shouldersof the younger generation.
It's too important to be surrendered.
You don't get to give in to the whimsand and currents of culture.
(44:55):
You get to standin defiance of the current.
The battle we're inis too important to be surrendered.
He's giving it to you.
He's giving you the battle.
You hold to thatfaith and a good conscience.
It says you remain.
The battle isn't over,and neither are you.
(45:17):
You understand that?
Don't you dare tap out.
You remain
because some don't remain.
You remain
because some have tapped out.
You remain
(45:38):
and you fight with strong doctrine.
And you fight with knowledge.And you fight with faith.
And you stay in it.
And you fight day and night
by the grace of God, not by your ability,but by your faithfulness.
Because some have tapped out,
too many have remained two ignorant,
and too many have gotten too fearful,and too many have tapped out.
(46:03):
We have seen too many walk away.
We've seen too many moms cash out.
We've seen too many dads tap out.
We've seen too many churches fold.
We've seen too many pastors walk away.
We've seen too many.
(46:23):
And because we've seen so
many, don't be one of them.
We've seen too many families fall apart.
Remain.
Not because you're able.
Because he's able, though.
You got a pastor.
You got grace, though.
You got a pass. You got mercy.
God is able to make up and he's calling us
(46:46):
to remain.
To guard the truth.
To guard doctrine and guide people into it
often.
Because, remember, doctrine is.
Live.
And because some have rejected it,they've made a shipwreck of their faith,
among whom are Harmonies and Alexander,whom I've handed over to Satan, that
(47:09):
they may learn not to blaspheme.
Apparently,Paul never got the memo that it's impolite
to name names.
It's like, look, I'm calling them out.
Let's just be honest.
They got bad doctrineand they shipwrecked their faith.
Now they've given over thatto the destruction of their own ways.
(47:29):
That they may learn.
What Paul sayingis that they may learn and come back.
Not that they're gone forever.
It's too important to walk awayis too important to tap out.
Some have.
Don't to understand.
Don't
listen.
(47:51):
Quitting and abdication
aren't part of God's plan.
Quitting
abdication are not part of God's plan.
Mom's
quittingand abdication are not part of God's plan.
Dad's.
Guess what?
Quitting and abdication and passivity
(48:12):
are not part of God's plan.
Husbands, wives,
quitting and abdication are not
part of God's plan.
Church
quitting and abdication
are not part of God's plan.
(48:33):
We don't tap out.
We don't back off.
We don't light, and we don't slow down.
It may be tough.
Fields may be rough. We may be inadequate.
We serve a great God,the immortal, invisible God.
To him be praised.
We press in.
Do you understand?
We guard doctrine.
(48:54):
We guide people to it.
And we ask for the grace of God.
That's first Timothy one.
And Paul is going to press into some stuff
that when I teach it,
(49:16):
some of youare going to get really upset at me
and I don't care.
And it's going to push us men and women.
Because Paul says doctrine is important
and it will shape how we live.
(49:40):
And so before we go
any further, we're going to ask God,
give us your overwhelming grace.
And we're going to say, God,I will remain.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you.
Thank you for your word.
(50:02):
Father,
we sit herenot as people who've got it right.
Not as people who
are never in error.
We sit here as people who are needy.
And God, we need your overwhelming grace.
The same grace you gave Paul.
The same grace you gave Timothythe same grace that you showed
through Lois and Eunice, Timothy'smom and grandma.
(50:24):
We need your grace.
God, give us strength when we're weak.
Give us faith when we're fearful.
Give us courage in the storm.
And give us a trust in you
that will enable us to remain.
Give us a trust in you.
(50:45):
That will push us into faith.
A trust in you that will push us.
That we would trust your sovereigntyand your providence.
That we would trust your gracethat is greater.
Your grace that is sufficient.
Give us a trust in you
that becomes unwavering,
(51:08):
that becomes unabated,
that is strong.
A trust in you that is fearless.
That we trust in you.
We love you.
Jesus.
In your name I pray. Amen.
Listen, go this week and read chapter one
(51:29):
with some fresh eyes.
And read chapter two.
Thank you.
Get ready to maybe be offended next week.
You'll be all right.
I'll be all right.
Remember what we're going to do.
We're going to remain. Yeah. No.
That's good Charlotte.
That's fine. You can do that. Yeah,
but we're going to stand under it right?
And not over it.
(51:49):
You understand that?
Okay, so here's what I want.
We're going to sing a song,and I want you to use song as your prayer.
That, God, I'm gonna trust in you.
I'm gonna stand under your word.
I'm gonna rest on your word.
Because I trust you.
Use this song. Is that prayer? Yeah.
Let's sing.
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