We are going to move into our time in the Word together, and today we're going to begin a new
series of sermons through the book of 1 Timothy, the letter of 1 Timothy in the New Testament.
And this will last us right up until Christmas. And I know that we have a variety of people here
this morning, some who have been Christians, followers of Jesus for decades, and some to whom
all of this is pretty new. And so I'm going to just take a few minutes to explain what the letter of
Timothy is, and who wrote it, what kind of writing this is, and where it fits into the bigger story
of the Bible. And then we'll jump in and look at the first few verses of this letter. So if you have
your Bible, you can open it up to 1 Timothy, and you can follow along. We'll also have the words on the screen.
So for those of you who may not know, after Jesus came, he died on the cross, he rose again from the
dead, and then he continued to appear to his followers for a period of about 40 years, sorry, 40 days.
And then Jesus was taken up into heaven. We call that the ascension of Jesus. And then not too long
after that was the Jewish festival of Pentecost. And it was celebrated in Jerusalem. And it was then
that God poured out his spirit on the apostles, those men that Jesus had chosen. And the apostles
were enabled by the power of the spirit to do miraculous signs, kind of like Jesus did. And they
were enabled to speak the very words of God to the people. And that day, the apostle Peter, by the power
of God's spirit within him, preached a sermon, and thousands who heard it came to believe in Jesus
as the Messiah and as their Savior. We usually speak of this day, Pentecost, as the day that the church
was born. The word church in its original ancient meaning is very simply congregation or assembly or
gathering. And in this case, it was those who had gathered and were united by their faith in Jesus
as their Messiah and as their Savior. So Peter and the other apostles, they continued
doing these miraculous signs. They continued preaching the good news about Jesus to people
all over the place. And more and more came to repent and believe and be added to the church.
These people accepted God's gift of salvation and the number just kept growing and growing.
All of this, by the way, is recorded in your Bibles in the New Testament book of Acts.
Well, the Jewish leaders were not too happy with this. And so they began to persecute
the church, those who believed in Jesus. And many of the believers scattered. They fled for their lives.
They left Jerusalem. They left Israel, some of them, and went to surrounding territories and areas.
And they began telling people about Jesus wherever they went. And so suddenly, churches began to
spring up in all the surrounding nations and peoples. And in the midst of all this, there was a man named
Saul. And Saul was a Pharisee. He was a persecutor of the church of Jesus. And Luke tells us in the book
of Acts about how Jesus himself, from heaven, stopped Saul in his tracks when he was on the road to
Damascus. Jesus revealed himself to Saul. And Saul became a believer. In fact, more than that,
Jesus chose Saul to be one of his apostles, one of his spokesmen. And Jesus gave Saul, who from that
day on changed his name to Paul, a mission, a task. So Paul was now to go to the non-Jewish
places all around the Mediterranean Sea and tell them about Jesus and the salvation that he offers.
And so Paul did this. He went on three, what we call missionary journeys, traveling from city to city,
sometimes on foot, sometimes by boat, across the Mediterranean Sea to different places.
And Luke tells us in the book of Acts that some people in each of these cities came to believe
in Jesus. And local churches were born in all these towns and cities all around the Mediterranean Sea.
Well, in one of these cities, Paul came across a young man named Timothy. And Timothy's mother was a Jew
and his father was a Greek. But Timothy's mother had raised Timothy to believe in God. And Timothy accepted
the good news of Jesus for himself. And he was saved when, most likely when Paul and Barnabas actually
came to his city with the message of Jesus on Paul's first missionary journey.
According to Luke, Timothy grew in his faith and he matured to the point that other Christians in his
little church regarded him very highly.
And so Paul actually took Timothy on as a co-worker for his second and third missionary journeys.
So they, Paul and Timothy, traveled together and worked together to make Christ known and to see local
churches established all around the Mediterranean Sea. I'll put a little graphic on the screen there.
So you can see the line. They went all over the place. This is just one of Paul's missionary journeys.
And one of these cities where a church began was the ancient city of Ephesus. You can kind of see it
right there. It's just on the western coast of what's today Turkey. Back then it was the Roman province of Asia.
And you can read about how the church was started there in Ephesus in the book of Acts chapter 19.
Now the reason this is significant is because this city of Ephesus is where Timothy is right now
as Paul is writing this letter to him. We don't know the exact date that Paul wrote this letter,
but it was sometime between the time that this church in Ephesus was started and sometime and probably the time
when Paul died, which is actually a really short period of time. It's only about a 10-year window.
And so we're looking at about 55 to 65 AD. And maybe even we can narrow that down a little further
because it seems from the letter that the church has already had some time to be established.
And there's already been some things happening. We've seen some false teachers creeping into the church.
And so probably right around that time, 55 to 65 AD, this is only 25 to 35 years after Jesus ascended into heaven.
So if you want to open your Bibles up to 1 Timothy, let's look at the first few verses and see how this letter begins.
1 Timothy.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.
To Timothy, my true son in the faith,
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer
or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.
So this is very obviously a letter.
Paul introduces himself by name right at the top.
He tells us who he's writing to, Timothy.
There's a greeting which is at the same time kind of a blessing.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God and from Christ Jesus to you.
And then Paul jumps in verse 3 right into giving instruction to Timothy.
And this is quite typical of Paul's 13 letters in the New Testament.
They're full of instruction.
Instruction for how individuals that he's writing to ought to live.
But usually he writes to churches, local churches in different cities.
And so instructions for those local churches and how they're to live.
Let's notice just a few details in the introduction here.
First, Paul reminds Timothy and the church there in Ephesus of who he is.
He's writing as an apostle of Christ Jesus.
This is really important.
It's like Paul saying, this isn't just a friendly letter of correspondence,
but I am writing on behalf of Christ Jesus himself as his apostle, his chosen spokesperson.
So these instructions, these encouragements, these promises that I'm about to give to you,
they're not just from me, but they're from Jesus who speaks on whose behalf I speak.
So this is why we consider this letter so special, why we consider it sacred.
Because it's not just the words of a guy named Paul to a friend named Timothy.
Rather, it contains the very words of Christ Jesus himself spoken through Paul to Timothy.
So we take these words very seriously.
They're the words of God.
And Paul very briefly mentions how he came to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.
He says, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God and of Christ Jesus.
So both God and Christ Jesus together commanded it.
They decreed that Paul be an apostle.
And he mentions just one thing each about God and about Jesus there in his introduction.
God, our Savior.
He is the one who saves us, who rescues us.
And Jesus, our hope.
He's the one who our hope is in.
And then he goes on to Timothy, my true son in the faith.
Now it's easy to imagine how close this relationship would have been between Paul and Timothy.
I mean, here they were traveling together, working together,
all around the Mediterranean world.
And Paul being the older of the two and Timothy, a young man,
it's easy to see how they would have had a close father-son-like relationship.
But Paul thinks this way as a father-son relationship,
not just because of their many shared experiences,
not just because of the many moments where he probably got to counsel Timothy,
but because they share the same faith.
He says, to Timothy, my true son in the faith.
This is the key.
They both have faith in God.
They both have this same faith in Christ Jesus.
In fact, it's possible, not for sure,
but possible that Paul was even the one who led Timothy to be saved,
to know about Jesus at the start when he first came to Lystra.
So they have a very special, close relationship because of their faith in Jesus.
They're like spiritual family, father and son.
Now as we get beyond this greeting and into verse 3,
we see that Paul has some instructions for Timothy.
He says,
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia,
stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people
not to teach false doctrines any longer.
So they were both in Ephesus at one point,
but then Paul left to go into Macedonia.
And at that time, he urged Timothy to stay there in Ephesus.
This kind of brings us to the question of what Timothy's role was in Ephesus.
You may have heard it said that Timothy was a pastor in the church at Ephesus.
And, you know, we kind of call these letters,
1st, 2nd Timothy, Titus, the pastoral epistles.
But actually, if we look at it really closely,
nowhere in the New Testament is Timothy called a pastor.
Neither is he called an elder.
Neither is he called an apostle,
like Paul is.
But in two of Paul's letters,
he refers to Timothy as his co-worker.
And we often hear Paul telling us in his letters
of how he sends Timothy over here,
or he sends him over there,
or he leaves Timothy behind with this church.
And it seems that probably
we should stop thinking of Timothy
as the pastor of the church in Ephesus.
He is doing that kind of a shepherding work while he's there.
But this is part of his assignment.
We could probably think of him as an apostolic delegate
who's been assigned to serve in this church
in order to deal with any particular problems that have arisen,
that need special care or attention,
and to see that the church is strengthened and established and healthy.
Now, one tendency as we talk about that kind of a relationship to the church
is to think of this letter as merely a kind of instructional handbook
for pastors or church leaders.
It is written to Timothy,
and he is kind of functioning as a pastor or leader while he's there.
But really, this letter is for the whole church.
About halfway through the letter,
Paul makes this crystal clear.
He tells us what his purpose is in writing this letter.
And this is in 1 Timothy 3, verse 14.
He says,
Although I hope to come to you soon,
I'm writing you these instructions
so that if I am delayed,
you will know how people ought to conduct themselves
in God's household,
which is the church of the living God,
the pillar and foundation of the truth.
So Paul intends to come back to Ephesus soon.
But in case something happens,
in case he gets put into prison again,
in case he gets held up in his travels,
he wants Timothy to have these instructions
so that Timothy will know how people there in the church at Ephesus
ought to live as the church.
How they ought to conduct themselves in God's household.
So what is this letter all about?
Well, it does have some instructions and encouragement
for leaders in the church,
but much more,
it's all about how we as a church
should conduct ourselves,
should live as followers of Jesus.
It's not just a leadership manual kind of letter.
It's a church life handbook kind of letter
written by Christ Jesus
through Paul to us.
Let me say it another way.
The aim of this letter is not just to equip church pastors and elders.
The aim of this letter is to show us
how we as a local spiritual family of God
should live,
should behave,
should act.
And this letter tells us some of the ways
that our faith in Jesus
should transform our conduct.
And I'm really excited about this.
Just as God was at work in our church
in the last sermon series we did
through the Gospel of John,
showing us things about Jesus maybe,
I hope,
that we hadn't seen before,
opening our eyes to see more of His glory.
I hope and pray that now
as we turn to this letter of 1 Timothy,
the Lord will do some wonderful things
and continue that work of transforming
our lives as a church
to match the faith
that we share in Jesus.
And this letter touches on
all kinds of conduct in the church.
I'll just list off a few things.
Paul will give some definition
to what's right and what's wrong.
He's going to tell us about
what kinds of things we should
and should not be teaching,
should and should not be talking about.
He will set some clear priorities for us
and what kinds of things
we should be giving ourselves to,
our attention to as a church.
He'll have specific instructions for men
and for women.
He's going to lay out a framework
for leadership in the church.
He'll warn us about
some of the false teachings
that are coming.
He'll talk about how different people
in the church should relate to each other,
how we should care for the needy among us.
So this is a wonderful letter from God
through Paul to his people, to us.
And I'm excited about how our church
may grow to increasing spiritual maturity
and unity in the months ahead
as we spend time here
in this letter together.
So let's look at it.
Let's look at the first instructions
that Paul gives to Timothy
in verses 3 to 11.
And we'll see what we can draw
from these words
for our church here in Davidson
and for ourselves.
So I'll just read it again,
starting in verse 3.
Although I hope to come to you soon,
I'm writing,
oh sorry, that's back in chapter 3.
Verse 3, chapter 1.
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia,
stay there in Ephesus
so that you may command certain people
not to teach false doctrines any longer
or to devote themselves to myths
and endless genealogies.
Such things promote controversial speculations
rather than advancing God's work
which is by faith.
The goal of this command is love
which comes from a pure heart
and a good conscience
and a sincere faith.
Some have departed from these
and have turned to meaningless talk.
They want to be teachers of the law
but they do not know
what they're talking about
or what they so confidently affirm.
We know that the law is good
if one uses it properly.
We also know that the law is made
not for the righteous
but for lawbreakers and rebels,
the ungodly and sinful,
the unholy and irreligious,
for those who kill their fathers or mothers,
for murderers,
for the sexually immoral,
for those practicing homosexuality,
for slave traders and liars and perjurers
and for whatever else is contrary
to the sound doctrine
that conforms to the gospel
concerning the glory of the blessed God
which he entrusted to me.
So with the time that we have left this morning,
I want to look at six problems
in the church,
in Ephesus,
that we see in these first few verses.
Verse three down to verse eight.
Problem number one.
Certain people are teaching false doctrines.
Paul says,
stay there in Ephesus
so that you may command certain people
not to teach false doctrines any longer.
So this is a problem.
We've got people in the church
who are teaching things
that aren't true.
And Paul gives more detail
about what kinds of things
they're teaching down in verses six and seven.
He says,
some have departed from these
and have turned to meaningless talk
wanting to be teachers of the law
but not knowing what they're talking about
or what they so confidently affirm.
So these people who are doing the false teaching,
they've gotten away from the gospel.
They've gotten off the main message
that we're supposed to be teaching
and proclaiming as a church.
They're appealing to the Old Testament law
as an authority for how we should be living
as followers of Jesus in the church today.
But Paul says,
they don't even know what they're talking about.
In verse eight, he says,
we know that the law is good
if one uses it properly.
And so the implication here
is that these false teachers,
they're not using the law properly.
They're misunderstanding it.
They're misapplying it.
Now we don't know all the details
of exactly what they were teaching
from the Old Testament law,
but if we think back to the confrontations
that Jesus had with the Pharisees,
the Sadducees,
the religious leaders back in Jerusalem,
we can imagine the kinds of things
they might be saying and teaching.
So Paul wants Timothy to put a stop to this.
He wants Timothy to command them
not to teach these things any longer.
So that's the first problem.
Certain people teaching false doctrines.
The second problem in the church,
there are people following myths
and genealogies.
He says,
stay there in Ephesus
so that you may command certain people
not to devote themselves
to myths and endless genealogies.
So it seems that some of these false teachers,
they're making a really big deal
about these Jewish myths
and Jewish ancestry in their teachings.
And they're urging people
to pay close attention to this stuff.
And some of the believers
are getting sucked into it.
They're buying into this.
And it's leading the church
to get away from the main thing,
the gospel,
the good news of Jesus.
And so Paul urges Timothy,
command these people
not to devote themselves
to myths and endless genealogies.
So that's the second problem.
People following myths and genealogies.
Problem number three.
So these first two problems,
people teaching false things
and people following,
giving attention to myths and genealogies,
gives rise to a third problem.
And it's controversy
and speculations in the church.
Such things promote
controversial speculations,
he says,
rather than advancing God's work,
which is by faith.
So it seems that,
I mean, you can imagine this.
Like, if you're emphasizing genealogies
and tracing out lineages
and all kinds of things,
you can imagine the kind of quibbling
and arguments and disputes
that would be coming up
and how these Old Testament laws
should be applied
and how these ancestries
and genealogies
make this person more prominent
than this person over here.
So maybe we should listen
to this person
and not this person.
And with these controversial speculations,
it's translated differently
depending on your Bible,
your English translation,
but there's at least three ideas in here.
The first is,
it's promoting controversy,
disputes,
arguments,
are happening
over these things.
So that's the first idea in it.
The second,
some translations render it
as empty
or useless speculation.
So Paul's saying
that these are things,
these are matters
about which it's,
at the end of the day,
debating over this
is pointless.
It's empty.
There's no fruit to it.
There's nothing good
coming from it.
It's useless.
And then finally,
there's that idea
of speculation.
So they're not talking
about facts.
They're not talking
about truth.
They've gone off of that
into speculations,
raising questions
about obscure things
from these myths
and genealogies
and from the Old Testament law.
What is speculation?
It's coming up with theories
and guesses
and opinions
without a firm factual basis.
So that's the third problem.
The false teaching
and the focus
on these myths
and endless genealogies
is leading to controversy.
It's leading to speculating
of all kinds.
Useless,
pointless
over things
that we can't even be certain of.
That's problem number three.
Problem number four,
these speculations
and disputes
are not furthering
God's agenda
for the church.
He says,
such things promote
controversial speculations
rather than advancing
God's work,
God's program,
God's agenda.
So there's something
that God wants us
to be doing as a church.
He has a plan.
He has a purpose for us.
He has a track
that He wants us to be on
and the problem
is that these things,
these disputes
and controversies
and speculations
are taking us
away from that.
They're distracting us.
They're sidelining us.
That's problem number four.
Number five,
some people in the church
have departed
from a pure heart,
a good conscience,
and a sincere faith.
Verse five,
he says,
the goal of this command
is love
which comes from
a pure heart
and a good conscience
and a sincere faith.
Some have departed
from these
and have turned
to meaningless talk,
wanting to be teachers
of the law,
but they do not know
what they're talking about
or what they so
confidently affirm.
This is a pretty
heavy statement.
Some people
in the church
have departed.
They've left off
from a pure heart
and a good conscience
and a sincere faith.
This is a big problem.
We need a heart check here.
What's the goal?
What's the motivation
of these people?
Paul makes it clear
that the false teachers
themselves
are the ones
who have left
these things behind
as they turn
to meaningless talk,
senseless babble,
fruitless discussions
over these things.
That's problem number five.
Some in the church
have departed
from a pure heart
and a good conscience
and a sincere faith.
And finally,
problem number six.
there is pride
in abundance.
Arrogance
and ignorance
seem to describe
these false teachers.
They're confidently
affirming things,
says Paul,
and yet they don't even know
what they're talking about.
I mean, think of that.
They aren't using
the law properly.
Verse eight.
They don't understand it.
They're misapplying it,
so they're ignorant
about what they're speaking
about,
and yet they're
confidently
proclaiming it.
There's arrogance
and pride
in these teachers.
Pride is deadly
in the church,
especially if it comes
to find a pulpit
or a platform
or a leadership position.
The sense we get
is that these teachers
are more concerned
about having a following
than they are
about anything else.
So these are the six problems.
There could be more,
but these are the ones
I found in these verses.
There's a lot there.
Certain people teaching
false doctrines,
people following myths
and genealogies,
which are leading
to controversy
and disputes
over useless speculations,
and these speculations
and disputes
are not furthering
God's agenda
for the church.
Some of these people
have departed
from a pure heart,
a good conscience,
and a sincere faith,
and pride
is one of the things
that's at the root
of this.
Paul's going to go on
to talk more
about the law
and its purpose
in verse eight to eleven.
We're going to come back
to that in a future message
in about three weeks,
but what can we take
as a church
for ourselves
from these six problems?
I think the Lord
would have us do
some reflecting,
some prayerful reflecting
as we think
of these problems
in the church
at Ephesus.
And I came up
with sort of three,
I guess you could say,
ways that we can respond
to these six problems
that we see
in the church.
First,
I think we see here
that we need
to check our hearts.
If we think back
to the beginning
of this year
and our church's
annual meeting,
our elders shared
with the church
five growth priorities,
and one of those
was growing in love,
that we as a church
would grow in our love
for one another.
Well, Paul tells us here
in verse seven,
that love grows
out of a pure heart.
It flows out
of a pure heart
and a good conscience
and a sincere faith.
That's the fertile soil
that real Christian love
grows in.
And so,
if we want to grow
to be a more loving church,
we need to ask ourselves,
do we have a pure heart
and a good conscience,
a clean conscience,
do we have a sincere faith?
The problem in Ephesus
was that some had departed
from those things.
They turned away
from those things.
They'd given their hearts
instead to the desires
of the flesh.
They were no longer
acting according
to a clear conscience,
and they'd turned away
from that sincere faith
in Jesus.
And I think God
is asking us here,
each one of us,
to simply examine ourselves,
to prayerfully examine
our own hearts.
And so let me ask you,
how is your heart?
Are you walking
in sincere faith
in Jesus?
are you living
by the Spirit
to please God?
Or are you
kind of
gotten off of that,
gotten away from that,
knowingly
going against
your conscience,
living
to scratch
the itch
of the flesh?
or are you
continually
coming back
to Christ
when you have sinned
and when you have
done wrong
and confessing
and repenting
and receiving
His grace
and walking
with Him?
Or
are you living
in habitual,
persistent
sin,
doing things
you know
are wrong?
So I want
to urge you
to prayerfully
examine
your own heart
because the love
that we long
to see overflow
and abound
in our church
requires good soil
to grow in,
a pure heart,
a good conscience
and a sincere faith
in Jesus.
And hey,
if you're struggling
with this,
if you're wrestling
with doubt,
if you're feeling
cold
and hard
inside,
unresponsive,
would you tell
a brother or sister
in the church
would you ask
them to pray
for you?
Just share
that you're
struggling
with them.
We don't have
to do this
alone.
So that's the
first thing
that we can do
in response
to this
is to check
our hearts.
Paul said it
this way
in this letter
to the Corinthians.
He said,
examine yourselves
to see whether
you are in the
faith.
Test yourselves.
Do you not
realize that
Christ Jesus
is in you
unless,
of course,
you fail
to test?
That's the
first thing
to do,
to check
our own
hearts.
The second
thing is
to check
our focus
and our
priorities
and our
message.
And this
is a church
thing.
Are we as a
church keeping
the main
thing,
the main
thing?
Are we
staying focused?
Are we
staying on
mission?
Are we
staying on
message?
church?
Is the
gospel,
the good
news of
Jesus,
the main
thing,
the biggest
priority of
our church?
Is it our
main teaching?
Is that what
we're mostly
focused on
sharing with
the community
around us,
with the
people around
us who
are lost?
Or are we
getting
sidetracked?
Are we
getting
distracted?
Now I know
some of us
have been
Christians for
a long
time.
And sometimes
we can
grow dull.
We can
get bored.
We can
tire of
hearing the
same things
over and
over again.
Hopefully
not, but
some of you
maybe think
that, why
didn't you
tell us
some new
stuff,
Pastor Josh?
Stop just
telling us
the same
thing over
and over
again.
I want
to hear
some
different
things.
But Paul
speaks here
to remind
us that
this, the
gospel of
Jesus, is
the thing.
It's the
main thing.
As Paul
says in
verse 11,
it is the
gospel concerning
the glory of
the blessed
God.
That's the
sound doctrine.
That's the
message that
we've been
entrusted with.
That's what
we've got to
be focused
on, making
that known.
Are we
doing that?
We don't
leave off of
this ever.
So this is
why we're
doing Alive
on Sunday
mornings.
This is why
we did
Five Day
Club this
summer.
This is why
we're doing
Light the
Night on
October 31st
and the
Christmas
carol sing
in December.
There's no
end to the
things that we
could pour our
time and
energy into.
But our
time and
energy is
limited.
So are we
using it to
make the
gospel of
Jesus known
in this
community to
those who
don't know
it?
That's the
second way we
can respond.
Check our
focus.
Check our
priorities.
Check our
message.
And finally,
the third
one.
One of the
big problems
in the church
at Ephesus
was controversial
speculations.
Speculations
that caused
controversy.
Speculations
which were
useless,
empty,
pointless.
Pointless
disputes over
guesses,
theories,
opinions,
things that
are not
especially rooted
in fact.
Now in
their day
they had
their
controversial
speculations
over Jewish
law,
over myths
and genealogies.
what do we
here today
have our
controversial
speculations
over?
Now this is
something I
want to urge
you not to
take offense
over.
And I
also want to
confess that
I am guilty
here myself.
But I'd like
to suggest
that we
here today
have our
controversial
speculations
not over
Old Testament
law but
over Bible
prophecies
and end
times
timelines
and theories
and frameworks.
I'd like to
suggest that
we have our
controversial
speculations
over what's
happening in
the news
and what
that means
in the
grand scheme
of God's
plan
over politics
and who
will win
or lose
the next
election
and what
that will
mean for
us in
the days
ahead.
Now yes
some of
these things
have to
do with
what we
read in
the Bible.
So did
the Old
Testament
law stuff
that these
teachers in
Ephesus were
getting off
into.
It's certainly
not wrong
to do
earnest
Bible study
to seek
to understand
the scriptures
how they
apply.
But I
think like
they did
in Ephesus
with the
Old Testament
law
we all
too easily
and often
today
when it
comes to
end times
matters of
Bible
prophecies
we get
off the
plain
meaning
into
all
kinds
of
speculations
guesses
theories
opinions
things that
are not
rooted in
fact
or clearly
stated in
scripture
they're
guesses
about how
things will
unfold
in the
future
now in
Ephesus
the problem
was
teachers in
the church
who are
promoting
these things
and who
are confidently
affirming
all kinds
of things
but I
think our
problem
today is
not so
much
teachers
in our
midst
but teachers
and influencers
online
now there's
some good
content online
don't get me
wrong
but many
lack
discernment
I wonder
what Paul
would say
to us
in our
day
would he
tell us
to stop
listening
to that
kind of
stuff
on
YouTube
would he
tell us
to stop
listening
to self
appointed
discernment
ministry
people
we may
think
that that
guy
seems to
really
know
his
stuff
he knows
what he's
talking
about
he's
so
confident
but do
we really
know him
what if
he is
confidently
affirming
and yet
he doesn't
even know
really
at the end
of the
day
what he's
talking
about
let us
admit
that when
it comes
to the
future
only
God
knows
the
future
only
God
knows
the
intricacies
of how
his
plan
will
unfold
and how
his
prophetic
words
will be
fulfilled
at the
end
and so
based on
what Paul
says to
Timothy
here
I would
urge us
not to
listen to
people
who
speculate
about
what's
soon
to
happen
or
what's
just
around
the
corner
I
would
urge us
not to
listen
to
people
who
tell us
confidently
that
they know
the significance
of all
the things
that are
happening
in the
news
in God's
plan
these
things are
guesses
these
are
theories
these
are
speculations
and they're
controversial
and as
Paul says
they do
not advance
God's
work
God's
agenda
I think
these things
often steal
our attention
away from
our main
priority
as a
church
it's one
reason I
don't support
Bible
prophecy
conferences
or end
times
conferences
because
what are
they
more often
than not
it's a
mixture
of some
good
teaching
and preaching
with a
whole lot
of
controversial
speculations
now please
hear me
out
I'm not
saying
that we
shouldn't
care about
what's
going on
in the
world
today
we
should
neither
am I
saying
that we
can't
know
the
facts
about
what's
happening
in the
news
we
can
neither
am I
saying
that it's
wrong to
have a
guess
or an
opinion
about
what may
happen
but the
problem with
these teachers
in Ephesus
was that they
were confidently
affirming
they were boldly
proclaiming
even though they
didn't truly
know for certain
what they were
talking about
and I think
that part is
key
many big end
times teachers
and discernment
ministry teachers
are often
boldly
proclaiming
confidently
affirming
this is how
it's going to
go in the
future
I've got all
the pieces
arranged properly
and figured
out
yet do they
really know
if such and
such an event
in the news
is a precursor
to a bible
prophecy soon
to be fulfilled
I'm skeptical
and I've been
guilty of this
myself
when I first
came out of
bible college
I was like a
bulldog in a
china shop
when it came
to end times
and bible
prophecy
and I was so
deeply disappointed
if I discovered
that some other
person over here
didn't come to
the same view
that I had
the same
speculations
that I had
and so based
on what Paul
says to Timothy
here
if we have
theories
if we have
guesses
if we have
opinions
we should
hold them
as theories
guesses
opinions
we should
hold them
with open
hands
we should
be willing
to let
go
of them
we should
not be
eager to
promote
them
and convince
others
this is
the truth
and we
shouldn't get
offended when
people don't
buy into
those hunches
those ideas
that we have
at the end
of all things
God will keep
every word of
his promises
no doubt
about that
he will
prove his
matchless
wisdom
and his
sovereign
power
let's make
an effort
to relegate
the controversial
speculations
to their
place
these things
as Paul said
do not get
us where God
wants us to be
as a church
they don't
further God's
work
let's not be
concerned so
much about
what's happening
way out there
what's going
to happen
tomorrow
as Jesus
said let's
be focused
on today
let's be
focused on
loving our
neighbor
this community
that he's
placed us
in
let's be
focused on
the good
news of
Jesus
the gospel
that main
message
if we want
to be a
healthy church
a healthy
local household
of God
these are the
things we need
to do
we need to
check our
hearts
we need to
check our
focus and
priorities
we need to
cut out
controversial
speculations
and the
sources that
promote them
because we've
been entrusted
with the
gospel
concerning
the glory
of the
blessed
God
this is our
message
and it's
really good
news
and it's
what we
want to
be known
for as a
church
more than
anything else
let's pray
father in heaven
thank you for
your word
and sometimes
it does cut
deeply into
us
and I do
pray lord
that you
would help
us see how
these words
apply to
each one of
us personally
we don't
want to be
off the
path
we want
to be
right where
you want
us to be
as a
church
we want
to be
declaring
your love
for people
who are
lost
and your
salvation
which you
offer through
Jesus
I pray that
you would do
that work
in us
that you
would lead
us to that
place
that you
would strengthen
us as a
church
that there
wouldn't be
any among
us
who leave
off of a
sincere faith
but that each
one of us
would be there
walking with
you and that
our love
would grow
for each
other and
for you
we ask this
in Jesus
name
amen